Unmasked
by Sese Daniels
Summary: My name is Halle Mitchell, and I'm a hired gun who used to work for the government. I kill people for a living and team up with a thief named Baba for big jobs with too much security, and after a job gone wrong, we were captured and put up for sale at a black market auction. Now, I belong to Baba's mobster friend I can't stand, who I find myself constantly wanting to strangle.
1. Chapter 1

Two security guards stepped into the elevator from the 52nd floor of the Hotel Tres Spades: the reserved, private suite for the hotel's owner. The two heavily armed guards dressed in black suits and sunglasses took out two earbuds from their pockets, little communication devices called COMS, and they each took one and put it in their right ear. As the elevator doors closed in front of them, they pushed the button for the lobby and watched it light up.

As the elevator started with a small jolt and began moving, the floor numbers began counting down and lighting up on the screen overhead.

First, they passed floor 51, the penthouse and its four private VIP suites. Then they flew right by floor 50, the hotel's casino. The elevator kept rolling down through the next fifty floors of hotel guest rooms until it finally reached the lobby on the first floor. Normally, the elevator would stop here, but one of the guards took out a key card from his jacket pocket and inserted it into the card reader. Suddenly, the number B10F appeared on the screen overhead: basement floor ten of the hotel.

The elevator started up again with a small jerk and quickly plummeted down the next ten floors, and once it reached B10F, the elevator doors slid open with a ping, and the two guards stepped out only to enter a secret, underground black market auction hall.

Amidst the enthusiastic chatter of the large crowd sitting in stadium-style seating, a bright spotlight shined down on the huge purple-colored stage. Two people were locked inside of a gigantic bird cage that was set right in the center of the stage, bound, handcuffed, and tied to each other back-to-back with rope.

The first person was a thirty-five year old man with chin-length brown hair and brown eyes, who stood at a height of five feet and nine inches tall. This man was dressed in a deep red suit, a black undershirt, a white tie, a black fedora, white dress pants, and expensive dress shoes. He was commonly known as Mitsunari Baba; easily the biggest womanizer you would ever meet. On the flip-side, his alias was an infamous master thief with a policy of only stealing from crooks, which attracted him quite the following. Thieves all over the world were a part of Baba's fan base.

The second person tied to Baba's back was a five-foot six-inch tall woman with waist-length black hair, bangs swept across her left eye that came to a point in the middle of her forehead, and dark red eyes. She was wearing a form-fitting leather jacket, skinny black pants, and black, high-heeled, platform black boots that came up to her knees. Her name was Halle Mitchell, but if anyone ever brought up that name in conversation, not a single red flag would be raised. However, if you knew and spoke the nickname given to her, "the Wraith," you would instantly silence anyone in a conversation just by uttering the horrifying name of one of the most brutal, ruthless, impossibly skilled, and intense killers in the world. In truth, Halle Mitchell, the gorgeous, young twenty-seven-year-old woman sitting locked up in the cage, was a notorious assassin.

And both of these two people were in a bit of a sticky situation at the moment, after having a rather...interesting afternoon together.

"I hate you so much..." Halle gritted her teeth together painfully hard, shaking her head slowly back and forth as she seethed her anger.

Baba seemed to sulk a little at her harsh words, and a nervous bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. "I know... I'm so sorry, Halle..."

"Save it." Halle bitterly snapped at him, unable to look at him in the eyes and show him the terrifying glare she was wearing at present due to being tied to his back. "The words of the man I am going to kill the second I get out of here mean nothing to me."

Baba's posture grew stiff and anxious as an audible gulped suddenly escaped his lips.

The ridiculously large audience all wearing masquerade masks looked upon the stage with eager eyes, and the auctioneer smirked a little as he addressed them.

"And now for the last item up for bid, our grand finale!" The auctioneer, a strange man dressed like a blue-themed Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, who was covered in bold face makeup that concealed his identity, turned to face the crowd excitedly as he introduced the new item. "A master thief and a lovely Englishwoman! I'm sure this man here could be of _spectacular_ use to you! As for the woman, keep her as your slave, keep her as your toy... Do whatever you please with her. It's truly up to you!" He clapped his hands together, getting ready to begin. "And now we'll start the bidding. I have $500,000 from number five. Oh, and $1 million from number thirty! $1.2 from number twenty-four!"

One by one, the masked bidders held up their cards in the circular arena. Halle grimaced at the auctioneer's suggestions for what the bidder could use her for, unable to really believe that she had been put up for auction in the first place. After all, she had only regained consciousness just seconds before she and Baba were brought up on stage, and this was all insanely confusing. On the contrary, Baba knew exactly what was going on, and not as a result of being left conscious for the whole ordeal, but because he was one of the five people who actually set up and ran these secret black market auctions.

Being sold at your own auction... Yeah, that stung a little.

"$2 million for seat number five!" The auctioneer's booming voice rang through the auction hall, and he held up his hand as he began counting down on his fingers. "Going once..."

Halle couldn't believe her ears. They were being bid on for $2 million!? Who in the hell would pay that much for...

Her eyes suddenly landed on bidder number five, who was sitting in the front row. Even though he had a mask on, Halle could easily tell he was a greasy old creep that was staring at her in a way that made her feel _very_ uncomfortable.

Was _he_ going to buy her? She definitely didn't want _that!_

The man in seat number five leered at Halle, and the auctioneer's voice gained her attention once more. "$2 million, going twice!"

Halle felt a shiver run down her spine. What was going to happen to her if he bought her for that much money? The auctioneer said she'd be a slave or a toy...

Just...ew.

Well, Halle supposed that if she ended up being sold to the sleaze bag, she could just kill him and escape, but she really wanted to avoid going through the trouble of disposing of the body if it was at all possible.

The auctioneer paused for a moment, scanning the crowd for any sign of someone else placing a bid. "If there are no other bids, it will be sold to the man in seat number five."

Halle felt the intense anger she had been trying to hold back start to bubble over, and she could force nothing but a scowl on her face as the auctioneer got ready to sell her to the creepy guy in seat number five.

But, just then, the auction hall suddenly began buzzing with commotion.

"Seat number one hundred with a bid of $20 million!"

Halle whipped her head around to stare at the auctioneer in shock, certain that she must have misheard that. "What!?"

Baba seemed relieved, and he sighed and relaxed against Halle's back. "Oh, thank god..."

The auctioneer seemed surprised by the sudden jump from $2 million to $20 million himself. "Are there any more bids!?"

Through Halle's angry glare, she could see the bid amount flash on the big screen. $20 million... That was just completely _insane!_ All she could do was stare up at the sum of the winning bid, completely dumbfounded. Who would pay that much for her and Baba!?

A bell suddenly sounded, calling the auction to a close. The auctioneer snapped his fingers and pointed up to the special VIP seating at the highest floor in the auction hall. "Sold to the man in seat number one hundred for $20 million!"

As the auction came to a close, the cage Halle and Baba were in was carried over to the edge of the stage, and two masked security guards approached them. They then unlocked the cage and got Halle and Baba out of there, removing the ropes that tied the two together. Strangely enough, they removed the handcuffs from Baba's wrists, but they left the handcuffs around Halle's as if they were following some sort of orders.

"This way." One of the security guards stood behind Halle and Baba, guiding them somewhere through the auction hall.

Before they could get any further than two steps off the stage, one of the guards draped a bag over Halle's head, and her vision went black as she blindly stumbled around and followed the security guards to wherever they were taking her and Baba.

* * *

The security guards ended up taking them up to the 51st floor of the Tres Spades: the penthouse. Halle couldn't help but wonder why the penthouse, of all places, was where they were taken. Out of all the hotel employees, only the manager was ever allowed to come up here, aside from the four guests who lived in the penthouse suites. Although, to be fair, Halle was still having trouble believing that there were black market auctions being held in the hotel in the first place...

"We brought them. Here's the girl." One of the security guards spoke gruffly to someone, clapping Halle on the shoulder as if to draw someone's attention to her.

Halle grimaced at the brightness adjustment as the brown sack was suddenly jerked off of her head, and her hair stuck up a little oddly for a moment before it fell back down into place. Still handcuffed, she rose an eyebrow as she locked eyes with two men sitting on a sofa with their legs crossed.

"We bought you." A man dressed in a custom-made black suit, a light purple undershirt, and a checkered pocket square locked eyes with Halle as he spoke.

He had short, spiky brown hair and sharp brown eyes, and unbeknownst to Halle, this was Eisuke Ichinomiya. He was twenty-nine, five-foot-eleven, and the head of one of Japan's top corporations: the Ichinomiya Group.

"So we won you after all." The other man with black hair that was slicked back and dark grey eyes was dressed in a grey suit, a navy blue undershirt, and a light blue tie. He crossed his arms over his chest as he stiffly looked at Halle.

This man was Soryu Oh, a Chinese mobster. He was twenty-eight, six feet tall, and a high-ranking member of the Hong Kong mafia: the Ice Dragons.

Eisuke looked a little surprised as he traced his gaze over to a man standing right next to him. "You know this woman, Baba?"

"Er...yeah, I do. How should I explain...?" Baba's gaze faltered as he simply looked at her, unable to really say anything else.

"You bought me?" Halle's eyes widened when she saw Baba standing over by the two strange men, who was not handcuffed or restrained in any way possible. "Baba, what is going on...?"

"He means we won you at the auction." A new face suddenly appeared in front of Halle, and the man with orange hair who just spoke smiled at her. "For $20 mil, the boss must've gotten dragged into it, too."

Halle recognized this man instantly, and her jaw fell open in shock. "Wait a minute... Aren't you Ota Kisaki? The famous modern artist?"

Ota smiled at her from being recognized. "Yes, that would be me!"

Ota Kisaki was twenty-four years old, five-foot-seven, and a famous artist in Japan. The media just couldn't get enough of this talented, multidisciplinary artist and high fashion model, and he was constantly on TV and in newspapers. Halle remembered his face from the covers of a few magazines she had passed by on newsstands while walking around in town.

Halle scrunched up her face a little as if she suddenly just got a brain freeze, and she brought her handcuffed wrists up to her face and pressed them against her forehead. "Wait a minute... You guys can't buy me! I'm a human being!" She pleadingly looked over at Baba for help, forgetting her anger towards him for a moment. "Baba...!"

Baba sweatdropped awkwardly, and he took off his fedora as he ran a hand through his hair. "Anything and everything is for sale at that auction. Unfortunately, that guy we tried to rob today put us up for auction after we were captured, so... _we_ were sold."

Ota quirked an eyebrow suspiciously at Baba before he dismissed it, and he looked over at Halle to further explain the auctions to her. "That's right, anything can be sold. You can buy stolen art, secret information about politicians... Even hire a hit man."

"What?" Halle tried to blink back her shock at that last part. _She_ was a hit man! How come she had never heard of this form of advertising before now!?

"If there's someone out there to buy it, you can sell it." Baba nodded his head, smirking a little as he rose his arms up to cross them over his chest. "There are no rules." He then looked a little reluctant as he stared off at a wall in the luxurious, richly-furnished penthouse, avoiding Halle's sharp glare. "This is actually the first time a person has been auctioned off, though."

Ota suspiciously looked over at Baba, not too surprised by this. "You must've done something pretty bad this time, huh?"

Baba grinned sheepishly, grabbing at the back of his neck anxiously. "Ah hah hah...you have no idea."

Halle was still in shock from all of this crazy information being dumped on her so suddenly, and it was taking her a little while to process this. "There's no way an auction like this would ever be allowed... Who in the world would approve..."

"I did." Eisuke suddenly cut her off, answering her question for her.

Halle snapped her eyes wide open in shock. "What!?"

Eisuke smirked arrogantly, crossing his arms over his chest as he boastfully looked in her direction. "If it's worth anything, it's here."

"You're reckless as always." Soryu glanced over at Eisuke next to him, looking completely bored. "This woman isn't worth anything."

Halle took offense to that as she dropped her jaw. "Hey...!"

Eisuke completely ignored her as he looked over at Soryu with a rather serious expression on his face. "But won't it be fun thinking up ways to use her?"

Halle's whole face erupted into a huge glare as she lost her cool and snapped at Eisuke. "What gives you the right to decide that!?"

Eisuke snapped his head around to level a terrifying glare at her, briefly looking away from Soryu as he paused their conversation. "Who gave you permission to speak?"

Halle drew her head back a little in shock, temporarily frozen by the scary look on Eisuke's face. "What..."

"Don't open your mouth unless I say so." Eisuke firmly silenced her, completely serious as he glared at her.

Halle was stunned by his sudden cruelty, not having expected to hear him say that. "Baba...!" She suddenly shot the master thief a harsh glare as she whined his name, more pissed off than she was before.

Soryu crossed his arms, looking pretty sadistic as he smirked over at Halle. "If you gotta problem with it, would you rather go back to bidder number five?"

Halle opened her mouth to snap at him for that, but Baba beat her to it as he quickly stepped in to save the day. "C'mon now, Boss... Soryu... You should be nice to girls. Plus, we need to figure out who gets to keep her."

"Yeah." Ota agreed, reaching up to brush his hair out of his eyes as he smiled lustfully. "I'm pretty fond of her already..."

"What do you mean, who gets me?" Halle's eyebrows shot up into her hairline, very alarmed and on her guard now. "Is one of you going to buy me?"

"That's right." Ota smirked a little, but he then frowned a little and clapped Baba on the shoulder. "But unfortunately, it can't be me. I already agreed to pay for Baba."

"Which is a shame, too." Baba frowned a little, clearly disappointed. "If I wasn't up for sale with you, I would have bought you, since I'm the only good guy here."

"Says the world famous thief." Eisuke scoffed a little, delivering Baba that verbal slap to the face harshly. "But you would say something like that, eh?"

"You're just trying to lower Baba's stock." Ota smirked a little, finding Eisuke's comment to be rather amusing. "Eisuke, you've got tons of groupies. Just play with one of them."

Eisuke laughed a little, crossing his arms tightly as he leaned back into the couch. "Soryu's the one who could have his pick. I'm sure there are lots of women who would do anything to be the lover of a Hong Kong mobster."

Halle's eyebrows shot up to her hairline as she looked over at the man named Soryu. "Hong Kong...mobster?" She was speechless for a moment as she wondered just who the hell were these people, but she quickly pulled herself together. "I don't care who you are! Human trafficking is illegal, and you can't buy me. I can just report this to the police and get away from you."

Eisuke frowned a little, glancing over at Soryu. "Soryu, you see a cop anywhere?"

Disinterested, Soryu turned his gaze to a worn-out looking man standing by the window, smoking a cigarette. "Yeah, right over there."

"Damn it." The smoking guy cursed his luck, turning around lazily as he looked completely annoyed. "Don't just blow my cover like that!

"Better now than later." Ota laughed amusedly, running his hand through his hair again. "Right, Mr. Detective?"

The man pulled the cigarette from his mouth, placing his hand on his head as he sighed exasperatedly. "Grow up, Kisaki."

This man was known as Mamoru Kishi, a thirty-year-old career police officer who was lazy and put little effort into his job. He was five feet and eight inches tall, had short, shaggy black hair, grey eyes, and was dressed in a grey suit, white undershirt, and a black and grey striped tie.

Ota rolled his eyes, not removing the smile from his face once. "There you go again, always acting like you're the only adult here."

Halle looked at Mamoru, completely appalled by this revelation. " _You're_ a detective...?"

"Yeah, well." Mamoru lazily stuffed his hands into his pockets, not really caring too much about this woman here.

Halle dropped her jaw as she realized even the _police_ were in on this. As someone who used to work for the government as a top-secret, high-ranking agent for the Japanese government for eight years of her life, she was completely _horrified_ by this. Yeah, she was now an assassin who broke the law, but she took out criminals and scum who deserved it _only_. She didn't condone a black market auction being held that encouraged murder and human trafficking, and the fact that the police were in on it just pissed her off even more. Even though she had gone rogue and was dishonorably discharged a year ago because she didn't respect the, "no killing unless we order you to," rule, she still had a lot of pride and respect for her country.

"Doesn't look like we're going to reach a decision anytime soon." Ota sighed a little, smiling tiredly as he looked at the auction managers in the room.

"Well, Boss, at times like these..." Baba hesitantly looked over at Eisuke, and Halle found it curious that he addressed him as 'Boss.'

"Right." Eisuke shook his head, completely agreeing with Baba's unspoken thought. "I don't want to waste any more time on this." An evil smirk crept up into his face as he suddenly locked eyes with Soryu. "Soryu, you take her."

Ota's mouth fell open in surprise at Eisuke's sudden order. "Are you serious...?"

Baba seemed to be sharing the same thought, and he nervously shifted his weight from one leg to the other, knowing Halle's unique personality and the chances of her getting along with Soryu all too well. Which were not very good, by the way. "Er, Soryu's a mobster, and Halle is an assassin. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"She's an assassin?" Eisuke's cruel smile only grew more evil at the sound of that, and he looked over at Halle judgmentally. "Well, then that's all the more reason to give her over to Soryu. He'd be able to make the most use of having an assassin on his payroll."

Soryu didn't say anything at all, and all he did was glare at Halle. He briefly looked at Eisuke and wondered what exactly he was planning before he hardened his glare. "Do whatever you want. Who knows what'll happen to her, though."

"Baba!" Halle angrily glared over at her partner in crime, holding up her handcuffed wrists. "You're not seriously going to let this happen, are you!? Unhandcuff me!"

"Nooo way!" Baba shook his head back and forth, furiously waving his hands in front of his face. "You'll kill me the second I do!"

Halle dropped her hands back down to her lap, expressionlessly staring over at Baba now. "Oh, so you think you're safe because I'm in handcuffs, do you?" She met his terrified gaze emotionlessly before her flattened lips suddenly curled up into a cruel smile. "Well, then we'll just have to fix that, now won't we?"

As Baba's eyes widened in horror, the five auction managers watched as Halle suddenly threw her head back with great force and slammed it into the face of the first security guard standing behind her. She turned and delivered a roundhouse kick with her high heeled boot to the stomach of the second security guard before turning back to the first one she head-butted, slamming her handcuffed fists down on his head as hard as she could. As the first security guard lost consciousness and fell to the floor, Halle intercepted the attack of the second one and made sure his punch missed. When he lunged for her, she stepped to the side and let him charge past her, and she quickly looped her arms around his neck from behind and began choking him with her handcuffs. Seconds after a choked, strangled sound was drawn out from the guard's mouth, he limply fell out of her grip and hit the floor very hard. Halle stood straight up and flipped her hair back behind her, and the five guys all saw now that she had a handcuff key in her mouth. Halle rose her fists up to the key pinched between her teeth and twisted the key in the lock, disengaging the handcuffs and letting them fall to the floor. She spit out the key and reached up into her jacket sleeve, pulling out a rather large throwing knife.

"I'm seriously going to kill you for this, Baba!" Halle angrily shouted at him as she thrust the knife towards the thief as hard as she could, following through with her arm.

"Aaah!" Baba yelled in surprise as he clapped his hands in front of his face suddenly, narrowly catching the knife in-between the palms of his hands. "Careful, Halle! That could have killed me!"

Halle slowly began stalking towards him, and she had the look of a concentrated hunter on her face as she glared at him. "That was the idea..." She lowered her voice evilly and reached into her jacket, pulling out an even longer knife as she lunged forwards and swung it at Baba.

"AH!" Baba shrieked girlishly as he ran away from Halle, ducking behind a couch. "Please don't kill me, Halle! I'm really, really sorry!"

"You're _sorry_...?" Halle scoffed, taking another swing at Baba as he deflected it with a chair he picked up from the floor. "Sorry isn't gonna cut it, you moron! Do you have any idea what you've cost me!?" She swung her arm harder and harder, getting closer to slicing Baba's face open each time she thrust the knife towards him.

Baba was slowly backed into a corner as he held up the chair defensively in front of his face. "I'm sorry, Halle! I know Moniko drained both our bank accounts, but we can make that money back in a few months of hard work! I promise!"

"HAH!" Halle just laughed at that, tearing the chair out of Baba's hands. "Are you kidding me!? Maybe you can make your money back, but _I'm_ flat broke, and how am I supposed to take on any jobs now that I'm apparently owned by somebody!?" She lunged forwards and gripped Baba's throat harshly, thrusting him back into the wall he stood against. "Your stupid mistake on the job today cost me all of my money, my freedom, and who _knows_ how badly my reputation was damaged because of your incompetence!" She tightened her grip on his throat, getting all up in his face as she glared as hard as she could at him. "No one will want to hire me for jobs once they hear I was captured by one of my targets on a job, and instead of being killed, I was put up for sale at a secret auction!"

"Ack...!" Baba made a strangled sound as his hands flew up to Halle's that was around his throat, and he tried to pry her strong fingers off as he choked out his words. "I'm...sorry...ack! Please, Halle... Let...me...go...!"

As Halle's eyes caught on fire and she held the knife up to Baba's throat, drawing a little bit of blood, the other auction managers watched this fight in utmost confusion. Ota was stunned by how quickly things escalated, Mamoru was a little disturbed by the kid's sudden shift in mood, Soryu was actually kind of impressed with her hand-to-hand combat skills, and Eisuke just thought this whole thing was hilarious.

Ota leaned closer to Eisuke, not taking his eyes off of Halle and Baba as he quirked a curious eyebrow. "You got any idea what's going on here?"

"None whatsoever." Eisuke simply shook his head, watching this scene unfold with anticipation. He couldn't help but smile as he watched Baba get his ass kicked by a woman.

"Baba, this isn't the time to be fighting with your girlfriend." Soryu stood up and reached into his jacket for his gun, but Eisuke reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him from interfering.

Halle whipped her head around at Soryu's comment, looking completely enraged as she briefly pulled back from Baba and let him go. "Girlfriend!?" Her facial expression darkened exponentially, and her eyes were temporarily hidden behind her bangs as she clenched her hands into tight fists. "Are you kidding me!? The day I date _this_ creep is the day _hell_ freezes over..."

Baba gasped desperately for air and clutched his throat, looking completely offended. "Aww, Halle, that's so mean!" He quietly coughed out the words, looking up at her from where he had dropped to his knees on the floor. "You're breaking my heart! How can you reject a man so coldly like that!?"

"Because it's _you,"_ Halle firmly deadpanned her reply, turning her head a little to glare at him as she gripped the knife in her hand tighter.

"Wait..." Ota's eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he looked back and forth between the two. "Baba, if she's not your girlfriend, then who is she?"

Halle stiffened her shoulders a little as a look of surprise came across her face. "My name is Halle Mitchell, and I'm a hitter." She slowly looked up from the floor and locked eyes with the four guys across the room, standing up straight and tall. "Baba is my partner."

...

The look of shock and confusion on the auction manager's faces quickly had Halle suspicious, but it wasn't until Ota spoke up that she figured out what exactly was going on.

"...wait, are you saying that you're Baba's partner?" Ota quirked an eyebrow suspiciously, and his nervous expression was unwavering. "That's impossible... Baba works alone."

Halle's expression froze for a moment, and then it suddenly darkened as she turned around to glower malevolently at Baba. "Is that so...?"

Baba sweatdropped awkwardly, and he laughed nervously as he met her glare. "Uh, Halle, I can explain..."

Halle crossed her arms over her chest, and she rose an eyebrow at him. "You've been telling them all this time that you work alone, when in reality I'm the one who practically does all the work for you on the big jobs that make you famous?"

Baba opened his mouth to say something, and he quickly just sighed in defeat. "...yeah, that's about right."

Halle gritted her teeth harshly as she suddenly started to roll up her sleeves, and she pulled out another knife from the inside of her jacket lining.

Baba looked a little nervous as he eyed the two knives in her hands, and he slowly started to back up on the floor away from Halle. "Uh, Halle, I know what you're thinking, so just...ACK! PLEASE DON'T STAB ME!"

"I AM GOING TO CUT YOU INTO PIECES AND DUMP WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR BODY IN THE OCEAN, YOU IDIOT!"

* * *

 **Hello, and welcome to my Kissed by the Baddest Bidder fanfiction! This is only part one of the intro, and chapter two will be part two of this scene! I just have to divide it into two chapters, because this is already longer than 5000 words 0-0 Anyways, I LOVE this game, and it's definitely one of my favorites that I've played of voltage's games. Personally, Soryu and Eisuke are my favorite guys for this game, but this fanfiction is strictly for my #1 guy: Soryu Oh, the Chinese mobster! I love him so much XD I'll probably write a book for Eisuke too, but for now, I shall fangirl over Soryu.**

 **So, we've got a kick ASS MC again, and of course she's got a mouth on her. That always makes these things fun, right? I hope you guys like this story! I must warn you though, because this is Kissed By The Baddest Bidder, there will be a ton of foul language AND a lot more death, violence, and murders committed since my MC is an assassin. This book won't be insanely graphic or anything, but don't be surprised by curse words, fight scenes, and suggested mature themes that won't actually be shown, just suggested. You have been warned.**

 **Honestly, I don't think it's that bad at all, but I felt I should be nice and give you a fair warning of what to expect.**

 **Halle Mitchell (Hal-lee Mi-ch-ull): main character in all of my voltage inc fan fictions, except they each differ in age, appearance, background, personality, etc... The only thing they have in common is their name.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Kissed By The Baddest Bidder, or its characters.**

 **Claimer: I own my MC Halle and any changes in the plot.**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Halle, please stop trying to kill me!"

"NO!"

Eisuke remained seated on the couch as he watched the crazy woman with a knife continue to furiously swing it at Baba, smirking as he found himself rather enjoying the show. Soryu stood next to Ota, calmly watching the scene go down and waiting for Eisuke's cue to break it up. Mamoru and Ota wore equal looks of concern for Baba's safety, although they would be lying if they said they didn't find this completely hilarious. Honestly, it was karma for all of the heartbroken women the womanizing thief had left behind over the years.

Baba grabbed Halle's wrists firmly in his hands right before she plunged her knife straight into his face, and he held her still to keep her from killing him. "Halle, please stop!" He grinned at her awkwardly, putting on the charm. "Come on, Halle! We're such great friends! You don't _really_ want to kill me, do you?"

Halle's hands trembled within Baba's grasp from the adrenaline as her anger seethed through her gritted teeth. "...fine." She released her grip on her knife, letting it fall and clatter to the floor.

"Phew..." Baba looked visibly relieved as he let out the breath he was holding. "For a second there, I thought you'd never stop being pissed at me."

Halle's lips instantly stretched up into an evil, sinister grin at that comment. "Oh, I'm _still_ pissed."

Halle drew her head back and quickly slammed it at full _force_ into Baba's forehead, causing him to let go of her and stumble back, clutching his head in agony.

"OW!" Baba agonized over the pain, rubbing his throbbing forehead gently. "That really hurt, Halle!"

As Ota doubled over laughing, Halle sighed deeply as she quickly rubbed her forehead for a second, already used to the pain she absorbed from that head-butt. "There. Now we're even."

As distressed, pained tears streamed down Baba's cheeks, Soryu chuckled under his breath, enjoying seeing the flirty pervert be in pain just a little too much. "As much as I enjoy seeing this, and I would really hate to stop it here, I'm going to have to." He looked over at Baba before giving him a command with the jerk of his head. "Baba, frisk her for weapons."

Baba's eyes widened a little in terror. "Why _me!?"_

Ota let out a "pfft" sound under his breath as he reached up to brush his orange hair from his eyes. "Because we don't want to get stabbed."

"But it's okay if I do!?"

Halle took in one deep breath before letting it all out in a harsh sigh, and she placed her hands on top of her head. "Fine, pat me down for all I care. But I swear to _god_ , Baba, if you try _anything_ , I will reach out and choke you."

Baba cautiously approached her with fear in his eyes. "Understood..."

As Baba began patting her down for weapons, one by one, he kept finding knives hidden all over her body, and he placed them all in a pile on the coffee table. Soon, a large collection of miscellaneous knives, brass knuckles, and other hand-to-hand combat weapons were piled up on that table. Although, to Soryu's immediate surprise, there wasn't a single gun in sight. What kind of assassin didn't carry a _gun_...?

"There. All done." Baba sigh in relief, stepping back a little.

Halle just scoffed as she let her hands fall back down to her sides. "You missed some."

"What!?" Baba dropped his jaw in shock. "How many!?"

"Eight." Halle simply deadpanned her answer, shaking her head at him as she couldn't help but grin.

She reached down and pulled two knives from each of her boots and put them on the table. Then, to everyone's immediate surpise, she pulled up her shirt just enough to reveal her stomach, which had four more knives strapped around it, which were then added to the pile.

"...wow." Baba blinked back his shock as he watched Halle fix her disheveled clothes. "I didn't know you carried _that_ much..."

"Pfft." Halle scoffed, trying not to laugh too hard at Baba's statement. "You think _that's_ impressive? This is just what those idiots who abducted us _didn't_ find on me."

As everyone in the room sweatdropped at that, Eisuke lowered his voice and commanded all attention in the room. "You, woman. You keep mentioning something about a job and being abducted. Just how exactly _did_ you two end up being put up for auction?"

Halle's eyes instinctively narrowed themselves at Baba, who in return just let out an awkward laugh.

"Well..." Baba opened his mouth to speak, but he was quickly cut off by Halle pointing an accusing finger in his direction.

"Not a damn _word_..." She glared harshly in order to silence him.

Baba took a few cautious steps backwards. "Yes ma'am..."

Halle sighed exhaustedly, and she combed her fingers through her hair. "We were on a job in Tokyo this afternoon, which you don't really need to know the details of. Basically, all we had to do was grab the painting and get out, but since Baba was left in charge of disabling the security system because I was preoccupied with the guards, he botched it and cut the wrong wire."

Baba looked appalled at such a harsh accusation. "I cut the blue wire just like you told me to!"

"That was the _teal_ wire, you moron!" Halle got all up in his face as she rose her voice, glaring a thousand daggers into his eyes.

"Well don't put all the blame on me!" Baba whined dramatically, reacting rather girlishly to Halle's more masculine style of arguing. "You're the one usually in charge of that sort of thing. _I'm_ the thief! I'm not used to working with such complex security systems..."

"Oh, well sorrrrr-yyyyy!" Halle drew her head back and scoffed sarcastically. "I had my hands full taking out the seven guards on the second floor!"

Baba just rolled his eyes. "But you're a master assassin trained in God-only-knows what! I've seen you take out fourteen guys by yourself in less time!"

The others watching this argument went a little pale at that revelation as Halle completely paid them no mind, continuing to argue. "Yeah, because I killed them all! It's a lot harder to fight and knock out someone when you're not allowed to severely injure or kill them!"

"Alright, alright!" Ota clapped his hands together, shutting them up. "Guys, knock it off!"

"Enough of this already." Eisuke impatiently cut in, sighing as he pressed his hand to his forehead. "So, let me get this straight... You two went on a job together, Baba tripped the security system, you got captured, and then you were put up for sale at the auction tonight?"

Halle and Baba exchanged an awkward glance before they both nodded their heads in unison. "Basically."

"You're all idiots..." Soryu grumbled to himself, covering his face with his hands momentarily before slowly dragging them down.

"Didn't you try to escape at all?" Ota curiously butted in, having genuinely wondered about that. "If Halle is such a skilled assassin, I'm sure she could have escaped captivity at some point."

Everyone in the room grew even _more_ confused as they watched Halle embarrassingly slump her shoulders, and her face turned a little blue as Baba busted out laughing.

"Shut up..." She snapped at him angrily under her breath.

Baba clutched his stomach as he nearly doubled over laughing. "I'm sure she could have, but Halle was knocked out cold the whole time we were captured! She only woke up a couple seconds before we were brought out on stage."

Everyone's eyes were on Halle now, and her cheeks flushed a little red. "...I don't go down easy, okay?"

"Pfft." Baba covered his mouth with his hand, trying desperately to smother his laughter and completely failing. "She took out almost _all_ of the security guards that came running when the alarm was tripped. The guy we were trying to rob, Moniko, had a really hard time trying to subdue her, since she's ridiculously stubborn."

Halle's cheeks flared an even deeper shade of red as she slapped her hands over them. "They had to knock me out with a horse tranquilizer, okay!?" She huffed, not liking this feeling of embarrassment. "There, are you all satisfied!?"

And that was when everyone else in the room just started to laugh.

Halle just pouted. "I barely even know you guys yet, and I'm already starting to hate you all..."

"Geez, kid... It took a _horse_ tranquilizer to knock you out?" Mamoru laughed good-heartedly, pressing his hand to his forehead as he took a puff of his cigarette. "Just what the hell _are_ you?"

Baba slyly snuck close to Halle, snuggling up to her from behind. "She's a beautiful Englishwoman from London with milky skin, a _lovely_ English accent, and voluptuous curves that...ACK!"

Halle just glared straight ahead as she reached out and grabbed Baba by his throat, and she instantly started choking him.

"Halle...ACK!" Baba struggled to get out of her grip, and he pulled at her hand as best as he could, unsuccessful in getting her grip to loosen.

"What did I tell you?" Halle glared at him sharply. "I don't have the patience to tolerate your sexual harassment today." She suddenly released him from her choke hold, and Baba practically melted into a puddle on the floor as he gasped for air.

"So...cruel..." Baba's lip quivered as he sputtered out the words. "Come on, Halle! You know you love me!"

"Hmph!" Halle turned on her heel away from Baba, crossing her arms tightly over her chest as she kept her back to him. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm still pissed that I'm flat broke because of you!"

"Oh yeah." Ota widened his eyes at Halle as Baba in the background dramatically fell to the floor with a heartbroken look on his face. "Didn't you say something about that guy draining your bank accounts?"

Halle opened one eye and looked over in Ota's direction, maintaining her sassy pose. "Yeah. When Moniko captured us, he took everything we had on us, and then he got into our Swiss bank accounts and completely drained them. What a bastard..."

"Well, you're an assassin, right?" Ota widened his eyes as he looked at her. "Can't you make your money back pretty fast?"

"She's not just _any_ assassin, Ota."

Everyone turned to look at Baba who had suddenly regained his composure, and he had a serious look on his face as he spoke.

"She's the best there is." He swung an arm around Halle casually, only to have it immediately pushed off by her. "That's why I team up with her on my big jobs. Honestly, you've probably heard of her before."

"Is that so?" That piqued Soryu's interest, and he looked Halle up and down as if he was trying to tell if she was something special or not just by looking at her.

"Yep!" Baba cheerfully wore a big smile on his face, proud of Halle as he bragged about her. "Ever hear of the infamous assassin called the Wraith?"

An intense silence fell over the room as that horrid name was spoken, and Mamoru was the first to break it. "Baba, don't tell me this kid is..."

"Seriously?" Ota snapped his eyes wide open, having heard of her too. "Halle's _that_ crazy assassin? But she looks so cute and nice!"

Halle cheeks flushed red in embarrassment, and she turned away from Baba in a huff once more. "Again with that stupid nickname... Geez, why did you have to bring that up!"

"Whaaaaat?" Baba laughed and swung his arms around Halle, hugging her against her will. "Can't a guy brag about his friend without having some ulterior motive?"

"No." Halle shrugged him off, shooting him a glare.

"So you're _that_ assassin." Soryu leveled his gaze with her, a little impressed. Although he wasn't about to show it on his face. "The one who starts by slashing the throat of the victim, and then lets them slowly drown and choke on their own blood?"

"Yeah." Halle bit down on the inside of her cheek, still a little flustered from suddenly being the center of attention again. "I don't know who gave me that dumb nickname, but it's stuck ever since."

"Why do they call you the Wraith?" Eisuke hadn't really heard of her before now, and he was a little curious.

Halle looked over at him with a dark, unreadable expression as her voice grew cold. "They call me the Wraith, because just like the mythical creature, my face is the last thing my targets ever see."

...

Everyone in the room just sweatdropped at that, staring at her awkwardly.

"So, back to the more important topic at hand..." Baba broke through the cold atmosphere of the room and killed the awkward silence, and he shot a glance towards Soryu. "Sor, are you okay with taking Halle?"

The mobster just kept his cold glare fixed on nothing in particular. "I don't care." He turned his back to everyone and sauntered off, heading towards his penthouse suite for the night.

"Good luck, Halle." Baba smiled awkwardly to her, patting her on the back.

Halle just heaved a heavy sigh. "Great. So now I'm on a _mobster's_ payroll..."

Halle felt more than just a little depressed about having her freedom stripped from her. Who _knew_ what this guy Soryu was going to have her do? For the past year that she had been an official assassin, she had a strict honor code of killing only the bad guys who deserved it. Was being Soryu's personal attack dog now going to violate her beliefs?

Ota flashed her a mischievous grin, then glanced at the door Soryu left through. "You better hurry up and follow him, Halle."

"Yeah, before he locks the door on you." Baba agreed, chipping in.

Halle's eyes just widneed instinctively at that. "Seriously!?" The expressions on their faces suggested that they weren't joking, and Halle just quickly turned and started to jog after Soryu. "Okay, okay... I'm on it."

This...was going to suck.

* * *

 **Ah, finally, I finished chapter two and got it up! I'm so glad that I'm taking a writing break from Pokemon to work on my voltage books... Honestly, it's so refreshing to work on something new like this, and I'm feeling so inspired. Less writer's block for me, too. Thanks guys for being so understanding, and supporting my works!**

 **Anyways, so we learned a little more about Halle the assassin in this chapter, as well as how she and Baba were put up for auction. And now, Halle is Soryu's bitch, and things are about to get crazy XD**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	3. Chapter 3

Halle dashed down the hallway in pursuit of Soryu, and she followed him into the next room only to see him on the phone.

"Take care of it." Soryu spat into the phone, keeping his back to Halle as he spoke.

Halle just stared at him awkwardly in the doorway. Take care of it...? What exactly did he just put out an order for!? Great, this guy really _was_ a mobster...

Halle backed away from the disturbing conversation and sat down on the red couch in the gorgeous hotel room, and after Soryu hung up, he glanced over at her. And then, he just started to take off his shirt.

...

Wait, what?

Halle instantly averted her eyes as Soryu crossed the room half-naked, and to her surprise, he just walked right past her.

Soryu stopped at the bathroom door and looked back at her over his shoulder, sensing the look she was giving him. "Don't get any weird ideas."

"Um..." Halle was at a loss for a response as she watched the door shut behind him, and after a while she could hear the sound of the shower running.

Oh, he was just taking a shower. Maybe she could use this opportunity to go talk to Baba about all of this...?

Halle got up and walked towards the door, and as she turned the doorknob, droplets of water fell on her cheeks.

What the!?

She whirled around only to come face-to-face with Soryu, who had a towel wrapped around his waist and wet hair that was no longer slicked back.

"Do you _want_ to be erased?" He stared at her incredulously, almost a little surprised that she was stupid enough to try and escape on his watch.

"No." She bit the inside of her cheek as she stubbornly crossed her arms.

Soryu matched her posture and crossed his arms too, glaring down at the shorter girl who stood at a height six inches shorter than him. "Then be good. If you're good, I won't do anything bad to you."

Halle glared at him for a good minute before stubbornly tearing her gaze away, stiffening her whole posture as she bit the inside of her cheek harder. "Fine." She then sighed, disappointed that she missed her opportunity to talk to Baba. "What's going to happen to me?"

Soryu almost looked annoyed at her question as he pulled his glare to the side. "Who knows?"

Halle just scoffed, frustrated with his evasive, _'I'm-clearly-trying-too-hard-to-be-scary,'_ answers. "Are you going to keep me here, or what?"

"I don't have to take care of you." Soryu bitterly answered her question. Partially. "You're going to earn that $20 mil I paid for you."

Halle just dropped her jaw in shock. "T-twenty million..."

That would take a lifetime to pay off! Especially since she was flat broke now!

Halle just sighed in defeat, crossing her arms even tighter now. "Fine. What do you want me to do?" She dropped her gaze to the floor, then felt stunned as she watched his shadow approach her.

Soryu grabbed her chin and jerked it upwards, glaring down into her eyes as harshly as he could. If she were anyone else, they'd be terrified by the look on his face. "You better not tell anyone what you saw today. No matter what."

Halle glared at Soryu as she stubbornly jerked her chin out of his hands, refusing to let him intimidate her. "You don't scare me."

A vein bulged from Soryu's forehead as he only grew more annoyed with this woman. Was she just trying to be brave and cover up her fear, or was she seriously not scared? If the latter was true, he'd be genuinely surprised. "Telling anyone is the same as signing your own death warrant. Yours, your friends, and your family's."

"Hah..." Halle only laughed at him, which left Soryu completely stunned by that response. "I don't have any friends, and anyone I've ever loved is now dead. You'd be doing me a favor if you killed me, because I have nothing left in this life to live for." She took a step towards Soryu, staring straight up at his face. "...but even so, I won't tell anyone. I won't really gain anything from it."

Soryu's expression remained cold and unchanging, and the only thing that Halle noticed was that his eyebrows slightly rose in shock. He probably wasn't anticipating her to retaliate like that, then simply just comply anyways.

"Just keep your mouth shut, do as I say, and I'll let you live." Soryu turned his head to the side, breaking their intense stare down. "Got it?"

"Got it." Halle uncrossed her arms, then sighed sharply as her expression fell. "Look. You don't know me all that well, but I'm a woman of my word. I have a strict honor code." She held up her finger and smiled a little to make a point. "I understand that I'm in debt to you, and I will stay on your payroll for as long as it takes me to repay you for saving my life." Halle never broke eye-contact with him once, keeping her firm resolve. "I'm a highly-skilled assassin. There's really not a thing I can't do, so use me as you wish."

Soryu stared into her eyes hard, trying to detect the lie that was surely to be hidden within those words. However, no matter how hard he stared at her, he couldn't find a single trace of deceit within her eyes.

She was telling the truth.

As Soryu opened his mouth to speak, the bedroom door suddenly flung open, and Ota stepped inside "Hey, Soryu!" He came in with a smile on his face, which immediately fell as soon as he saw what exactly he had walked in on. "...are you _already_ seducing her?"

Before Soryu or Halle could even answer that question, Eisuke suddenly came into view as he shoved Ota out of the way. "You're in the way. Move."

"Need something?" Soryu remained calm as ever, seemingly unbothered by their ridiculousness.

Ota smiled mischievously as his eyes flitted between Soryu and Halle. "We were just wondering what you two were doing in here."

"Wow." Baba did a cat-call whistle, thoroughly impressed as he flirtatiously winked at Halle. "I've never seen you hit on a girl like _this_ , Sor."

Soryu just scoffed, and he grabbed the back of his neck as he stared down at the floor indifferently. "As if I'd waste my time on this woman..."

"Baba!" Halle's cheeks flared up in embarrassment at what the guys were implicating, and she slapped her hands over her cheeks to hide her blush. "Nothing happened! You're misinterpreting this!"

"Uh-huh." Baba smiled brightly, keeping that huge grin on his face as he looked at the cool mobster. "Then where are your clothes, Sor?"

Soryu just leveled a sharp glare with Baba. "She tried to run away while I pretended to take a shower, so I caught her." He sat down next to the window and firmly shifted his glare over to Halle. "So much for your honor code, huh?"

Halle's whole face erupted into a look of anger as she realized he was just testing her from the very start. "I wasn't trying to run away! I was trying to go talk to Baba!"

Upon hearing that music to his ears, Baba took that opportunity to slide over to Halle smoothly and hug her from behind. "Ooooh, did you miss me already, darling-OW!"

Halle reached out and smacked Baba upside the head with the palm of her hand, successfully getting him to let go of her. "You idiot. That's not true at all."

"Ohh, I get it." Eisuke was following this conversation as his eyes locked themselves on each person as they spoke. "So she's about to get punished."

Halle's attention was immediately grabbed by that, and she glared at Eisuke in confusion. "Punished!? What for!"

Ota just laughed at this, finding it completely amusing. "Looks like Soryu likes the innocent girls."

"Just what part about me do you consider to be innocent!?" Halle raged, throwing her arms up into the air incredulously as everyone continued to ignore her.

"...what?" Soryu snapped his glower over to Ota, looking very annoyed from that comment.

Baba swung his arm around Ota, teaming up with him as a giant grin found its way to his face. "You're always making excuses when girls hit on you, but maybe you're actually a closeted perv...wha!?"

Halle's eyes snapped wide open in shock as Soryu suddenly pulled something out from behind the chair and pointed it at Baba. Upon further inspection, she realized he had just pulled a gun out from behind the pillow and pulled the hammer back, aiming it right at Baba's head.

Baba took a hesitant step backwards as an awkward, cautious look found its way to his face. "Will you stop pointing your gun at me!? That's against the rules!"

Eisuke didn't looked bother by this at all, just a little intrigued based on how wide his eyes were right now. "You had a gun hidden under there...?"

Ota wore an equal expression of shock. "There he goes with his mobster jokes again..." He sighed a little, then locked eyes with Soryu. "Listen, we normal guys don't find it very funny."

Soryu reluctantly pulled his gun back in annoyance. "You're too loud, and this is the quickest way to shut you up."

Halle just sweatdropped as a dark purple cloud of confusion and worry began to swarm around her. Why did this guy have guns hidden around the room!? She couldn't _believe_ someone as crazy as him bought her!

* * *

"This is the penthouse lounge on the 51st floor. Sor, Ota, and Mamo also live here." Baba casually swung an arm around Halle as he gave her the grand tour of the penthouse, using this opportunity to get really close to her face. "My suite is here, too...ACK!"

Halle grabbed Baba's arm and twisted it behind his back, casually holding him there as he crouched on the floor in pain, knowing fully well that she could break his arm if she moved a single inch as she continued to strike up conversation with Ota. "Okay, this is where your rooms are, but what about Eisuke?"

"He's upstairs." Ota smiled at Baba's misery as he simply pointed up to the ceiling. "You get there by those stairs." He then pointed over at a grand staircase at the back of the penthouse lounge that was next to the elevator.

"Oh. Good to know." Halle then let go of Baba as if she didn't care about him anymore, and she spun around in a circle, looking around the penthouse curiously.

Halle wasn't sure if the guys just couldn't stand watching her be mistreated anymore or what, but everyone had dragged her out of Soryu's room and was now showing her around the penthouse.

"So, you already know meeee..." Baba leapt back up from the floor, already recovered from having his arm twisted behind his back. "Thirty-five, single, and ready to mingle..." Baba's eyes widened as he stared at Halle's raised fist, and he quickly took a step back from her. "...and I'll shut up now."

Ota just scoffed at Baba, then stepped back over to Halle and offered her his hand to shake. "And I'm Ota Kisaki, but you probably already know that."

"Yeah." Halle smiled a little as she shook his hand. "I've seen you a lot in magazines."

Ota just nodded his head, then looked over towards the couch where Eisuke and Mamoru were sitting. "Okay! It's somebody else's turn then!" When all he got for a response was silence, Ota's face immediately darkened into a sour expression. "Geez, you two are such grumps!" He reached out and gave Mamoru's arm a little shove, grabbing his attention. "C'mon, Kishi. Stop puffing away on your cigarette and introduce yourself."

Mamoru took his cigarette out of his mouth and sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead. "What a pain..."

Ota only rolled his eyes as his hands found their way to his hips. "You just have to say your name."

Mamoru looked over at Halle, clearly disinterested and annoyed as he popped his cigarette back into his mouth. "Mamoru Kishi."

Halle just met his gaze awkwardly. "Nice to meet you...?"

Baba came up from behind Halle and placed his hands on her shoulders, suddenly pointing over to Eisuke with one of them. "And you know the snobby guy over there with his legs crossed, right?"

As Halle opened her mouth to answer that question, Ota cut in and spoke for her. "Eisuke owns this hotel, and he runs the auctions."

Halle's eyes widened as her gaze suddenly fell on the arrogant man with spiky brown hair. "What? He _owns_ this hotel...?"

She thought the CEO of the Ichinomiya Group owned the hotel... Huh. Halle imagined he'd be older than twenty nine. Wait, then why did he run the auctions?

Eisuke was offstandish and detached as he shot her a brief glance. "You look like you have something to say."

"What am I going to do about work?" Halle looked at him curiously. "I can't take jobs, and I can't go home, so it'll be extra suspicious if an off-the-grid assassin presumed dead by the government just starts living here."

"She's got a point." Ota looked over at Eisuke, wondering what he was going to do.

"Hmm." Baba pressed his finger to his lips, thinking deeply. "Maybe she should try and get a job as a maid here? That way she'd blend in a lot more?"

Halle just sighed sharply before she grabbed at her hair in annoyance. "Great. Living the life of a hotel maid..."

"Pfft..." Eisuke just scoffed, enjoying the sight of Halle squirming. "You're worried about your job at a time like this? You belong to Soryu now, so you need to ask him about that."

Halle balled her hands into fists, shaking sharply. "Fan-freaking-tastic..."

* * *

 **Ahhhh, long time no update, I know. Sorry, I'm such a scatter brain that I have to work on 5-6 books at a time, so it took me awhile to get back to this one. Sorry!**

 **Anyways, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! There will be many more to come!**

 **Read, review, and enjoy! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

It was almost _shocking_ just how easy it was for Halle to leave Soryu's suite this morning. He didn't even try to stop her at all. All he did was warn her to keep her mouth shut about the black market auctions once more, and they barely spoke after that. She just walked right out the door this morning and headed down for her new room in the employee dormitory. Wait...

...

Soryu didn't put a bug on her, did he!?

As Halle got changed into her new maid's uniform in the woman's employee locker room, she checked her entire body for bugs. No dice.

The new uniform she now wore that was a size extra small was a short, medium-blue dress that reached the middle of her thighs. It had a large collar in the front with a couple stripes that lined the outside of it. She had a small, frilly white waist apron tied around her, and she sported a pair of simple black pumps. The sleeves came down to the middle of her upper arm, and overall it was a very simple, yet elegant design. Halle had her straight black hair pulled back into a high ponytail, which came all the way down to her lower back in length.

"Oh, you must be the new girl!"

Halle jolted with surprise as someone snuck up behind her and spoke, and she whirled around impossibly fast. She widened her eyes at the girl standing before her, taking in her appearance.

This girl looked to be about four years younger than Halle; maybe twenty three years old? She had shoulder-length, chocolate brown hair that was tied up in a high ponytail, and she was dressed in the uniform for the Tres Spades staff members who worked in the casino. It was a long-sleeved white blouse with a black-collared, royal blue vest on top, and she sported a simple black bow tie and black work slacks as well. Her bright brown eyes filled with life were a stark contrast to Halle's cold, dead, dark red eyes.

"Oh...hello." Halle had her back pressed up against her closed locker door, staring at the girl in surprise. "I'm Halle; I just started today."

The girl smiled brightly and instantly shook Halle's hand with impeccable strength and enthusiasm. "It's so nice to meet you, Halle! I'm Sakiko. I work in the casino."

Halle recovered from her surprise and regained her composure, flashing Sakiko a little smile. "I attend to the guest rooms as a maid."

"Oh, you must be working with Chisato today, then!" Sakiko wore a bright grin as she reached out and grabbed Halle's hand, beginning to drag her off somewhere. "Here, I'll take you to her!"

"Whoa...slow down!" Halle yelped in shock, struggling to keep up to Sakiko in her high heels.

Oh boy... Just how on earth did she even get here in the first place...?

* * *

Last night...

"So...can I go back to work?" Halle walked right into Soryu's room and asked her question, not beating around the bush at all.

Soryu actually stopped to consider it and gave it some serious thought for a moment, thinking carefully before he answered. "Do you understand what I told you before?"

"Yes, yes. I'm not going to tell anyone about the auctions." Halle rolled her eyes, tired of hearing this same old thing over and over again.

"...fine then. As long as you understand that." Soryu dismissively looked away from her, going back to whatever he was doing before.

"What?" Halle widened her eyes in shock, not having anticipated that answer. "So I can go back to work!?"

Soryu pondered that question as he pulled out his cell phone, and he held it up to his ear as he listened to it ring. "I'd rather avoid commotion, if possible."

Halle watched Soryu make some sort of phone call that only lasted a few seconds, and she couldn't make out what it was about at all. Not even five minutes later, a short man named Hajime Kenzaki, the general manager of the Tres Spades hotel, came into the room. He had short, dark brown hair and old, tired eyes, suggesting that this man wearing the black suit was a guy much older than Halle and the auction managers.

"You called, Mr. Oh?" Kenzaki stepped right up to Soryu sitting on the couch, bowing to him respectfully.

"I've given this woman permission to enter the penthouse." Soryu haphazardly waved Kenzaki's attention to Halle with his hand, not really paying her any attention at all. "Starting tomorrow, she'll be working here as a hotel maid specifically in charge of taking care of the VIP guests here in the penthouse. Give her the pager and the penthouse elevator key."

"Yes, Sir." Kenzaki silently glanced at Halle as he took a key card out of his jacket. "I'll give you the pager later." He handed her the key card, flashing her a tiny smile.

"Thank you." Halle stared at him completely dumbfounded by this new change of course, numbly accepting the key card from him.

Mr. Kenzaki bowed respectfully before quickly leaving. He didn't ask any questions at all, so Halle figured that he must know about what was going on here.

Soryu looked upon her once more with a very grim, serious, strictly-business expression. "Come straight here whenever I page you."

"Okay." Halle fiddled with the key card she held between her fingertips before awkwardly turning to leave. "Well... Excuse me, then."

"Wait." Soryu stopped her with his outstretched hand. "Where do you think you're going?"

Halle snapped her eyes wide open, very confused as she stared at him. "...back to the temporary safe house in Tokyo I've been living in?"

Soryu shook his head no. "I'll let you work, but I can't let you go home, otherwise I can't keep an eye on you." He paused briefly, then crossed his arms over his chest, crinkling his navy blue dress shirt. "You can work here as a maid, but your job as an assassin will be put on hold until your debt to me is repaid. Unless I give you an order, you will not act of your own free will."

"Fantastic..." Halle sighed sharply, bitterly crossing her arms over her chest. She'd worry about the mission she'd been working on for the past year later; right now, sleeping arrangements were a more pressing problem. "Then where am I supposed to sleep tonight?"

"Here, of course." Soryu answered calmly with no hesitation, as serious as ever.

Halle just stared at the Chinese mobster unbelievably. No way... She didn't want to sleep in the same room as _this_ awful guy! She couldn't _stand_ him!

"You're joking, right?" Halle scoffed, flashing Soryu a wary look as she waited for the punch line.

Soryu just stared at her expressionlessly as he deadpanned, "do I _look_ like I'd want to entertain you with a joke?"

Halle just stood there awkwardly. "...no."

"If you disobey me, I'll put you back up for auction." Soryu turned his head away, going back to doing something on his phone while paying Halle no attention at all.

"Fine..." Halle bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, very annoyed by how this turn of events would put her one hundred steps back. "Where should I sleep?"

"You can use this bed and bathroom." Soryu motioned towards a bedroom and bathroom across from his with a flick of his wrist. "Don't come near mine, though."

Halle just rolled her eyes, muttering harshly under her breath, "no problem there..."

"What did you say?" Soryu whipped his head back around to glare a thousand daggers at Halle.

Halle awkwardly turned around and quickly began to escape to the safety of her new room. "Nothing!"

However, Soryu was going to have none of that. He still had something on his mind, and he needed to know the answer, or a little annoying feeling called curiosity was just going to keep plaguing him.

"Why don't you carry a gun?"

Halle froze just a few mere steps away from her bedroom door, and she kept her back as stiff as a board facing Soryu. "Excuse me...?" She slowly turned her head over her shoulder to look at him with a grave expression on her face.

"I've never once met a hit man who didn't carry a gun." Soryu stood up and ran a hand through his slicked-back hair, staring at her figure across the room from him. "When we frisked you for weapons earlier, all we found were knives, and no gun. Why don't you carry one?"

"I..." Halle was at a loss for a response as she grew uncharacteristically quiet. "I...don't really like guns." She awkwardly rubbed her arm, refusing to make eye contact with Soryu.

"Why not?" Soryu continued to press her for answers.

Halle slowly turned around to meet Soryu's gaze. "...how much has Baba told you about me?"

"Nothing." Soryu deadpanned, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. "Anything I know about you is what I heard when I first met you today." He dismissively answered her question, not really taking an interest in her at all. Honestly, the only thing about the Englishwoman standing before him that interested him even a tiny bit was that she didn't carry a gun.

"Well..." Halle looked off to the side, calmly brushing her black bangs from her eyes. "I've been the Wraith for eight years now, but what no one knows is that I was a government-funded assassin for the first seven of those years."

"A government-funded assassin?" Soryu just scoffed, throwing his head back a little in amusement at her _outrageous_ claim. "There's no such thing."

"Well, you're not entirely wrong there." Halle leaned up against her door, meeting his eyes once more. "Technically, I was a spy who worked for the secret part of the government that you're not really supposed to know about." She winked at him, wearing a mysterious smile on her lips.

"You were a spy?" Soryu drew his head back a little in disbelief, having a hard time buying this.

"Yes, I was..." Halle looked off to the side of the room, staring absent-minded my out the window. "I enlisted in the army as soon as I turned eighteen, and after a year of hard work and proving my skill to my superiors, I made a name for myself and was promoted to an agent when I was only nineteen." She tore her gaze back away from the window, blinking at Soryu once more. "For seven whole years of my life, I was essentially a super cop and a vigilante in one. I travelled from country to country on covert operations, taking out evil world leaders and government officials that posed a threat to Japan. I also gathered intelligence, as well as acting as the government's personal hit man. I wasn't the only spy working for Japan, either. There were a lot of us."

Soryu picked up on a sense of dread in her tone, which only put a wary seed of suspicion in his gut. If he was going to keep a proper eye on this woman, as much as he didn't like it, he'd have to get to know her at least a little. "What happened?"

Halle looked genuinely surprised that he even asked that, and she quickly grew hesitant and avoided his eyes. "I...got dishonorably discharged a year ago."

"What for?" Soryu quirked an eyebrow, wondering just what the hell she could have done to get dishonorably discharged of all things.

Soryu could have sworn he saw a grievous look of depression flash across her face as Halle abruptly turned her back to him and motioned to go into her room. "...nothing I wish to discuss."

"You still never answered my question." Soryu stopped her from opening the door any further with just his words, and he found himself staring at her back once more.

Halle knew exactly what he was asking, and she answered him without turning around. "I don't like guns because it reminds me of my life of a spy, and it makes me miss it that much more. And, guns take bullets. It can be extraordinarily dangerous if you ever run out." She stopped and turned her head to look at Soryu over her shoulder. "Do you know what a gun without bullets is, Soryu?"

Soryu couldn't believe she was honestly trying to bad-mouth guns to someone who used them as much as he did. "What?"

A mischievous smile danced across Halle's lips as she disappeared into her bedroom for the night. "Just a paperweight."

* * *

"Chisatoooooo~!" Sakiko sung the name of her dear friend as she dragged Halle down the hallway, pausing in front of a maid's linen cart that was stationed in front of an unoccupied guest room on Floor 32.

A woman dressed in the same blue maid's uniform with soft grey eyes and black hair cut as a chin-length bob poked her head out the guest room's door, and she smiled brightly at the sight of the two girls.

"Hello." Chisato eyed Halle, the girl she had helped get settled in to her new room in the employee dormitory this morning. "You're Halle Mitchell, right?"

"Yes, that's me." Halle nodded her head, eager to get started working. She'd just die of boredom if she had to sit around Soryu's suite without anything to do all day. Although she was now a maid, it was still better than nothing, and she was going to give this job all she had.

Sakiko let go of Halle and gave her a nudge forward. "Have fun training the newbie, Chisato!" She turned on her heel and began to walk away, but quickly turned around to wave good-bye to the two girls. "Bye, Halle! See you two later!"

"See you!" Chisato waved back to Sakiko and watched her disappear down the hallway, and she quickly grabbed Halle's hands and suddenly jerked her into the guest room.

"AHH!"

Chisato chuckled at Halle's girlish shriek and shut the door behind her, then gave the rookie a few simple tasks to get started on. Chisato was a senior maid here at the Tres Spades hotel, and she was often responsible for training the new maids. Now, she was about to show Halle the ropes.

"Okay, all the beds are made!" Chisato stood straight up and dusted off her apron, then looked over towards the bathroom. "Halle, how are the bathrooms?"

"Oh, I just changed out all the towels!" Halle poked her head out the door, and she quickly stepped out of the bathroom with a giant pile of towels in her arms.

Chisato smiled fondly as she watched the newbie plop the towels down in the laundry hamper. "It's really fun working with you, Halle! When I work with Erika, all she does is boss me around, so it's really exhausting..."

Halle straightened her posture and stood up straight, tilting her head to the side a little curiously. "Who's Erika?"

A dark expression of annoyance found its way to Chisato's face, but it quickly disappeared and was replaced by a forced smile. "Well... If you haven't met Erika and her two accessories, you'll meet them soon enough." She ignored the intense look of confusion on Halle's face and gathered up the dirty sheets and the towels Halle had just set down. "I'll carry these down to the laundry room."

"Oh, thank you!" Halle clapped her hands together, snapping out of her confusion.

"Sure, no problem." Chisato brushed her off nonchalantly. "After you're done dusting, meet me in the next room, okay?"

Halle nodded her head as she grabbed the duster off the cart, grasping it rightly within her fingers. "Got it."

After Chisato left, Halle carefully began cleaning the room. Chisato was so nice, and she was good at her job, too. Halle couldn't help but admire her a little for that, especially since Chisato didn't hesitate to sweep in and help Halle out on her first day.

After about ten minutes of thorough dusting, Halle stood in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips as she turned around and looked over the room. "That should do it... I think."

Once Halle finished inspecting her hard work, she rushed over to the door, heading for the room Chisato was waiting for her in. However...

"Oof!" Halle slammed face-first into someone's chest, and she staggered backwards a little. She blinked owlishly as she stared at who was in front of her.

A woman with unhealthily pale skin and greasy brown hair pulled back tightly into a ponytail stood firmly in front of Halle with her boney fingers clenched into fists that were resting on her hips. She had a very narrow face and beady blue eyes, and this woman was surrounded by a suffocating, regal air.

The woman scrunched up her nose at the sight of Halle, and she spoke in her high, nasally voice. "You're that new girl, Halle, right?" She didn't let her answer before she started talking once again. "Are you done with this room already?" Halle stared at her name tag and just internally groaned when she read 'Erika' on it.

Two girls standing behind Erika with the name tags Rina and Kana had their black hair tied up in two matching braid buns on each side of their heads. They were identical twins that could only be told apart by the pink hair bands on one girl's head and the blue ones on the others.

Their hair reminded Halle of Princess Leia's as they spoke in sync with each other. "Already?"

"Yes..." Halle took a cautious step back, not liking the attitude she was getting from these three girls. She had to keep a low profile while she worked here at the Tres Spades, which meant she needed to act like a kind, docile, normal girl.

A cruel, taunting smirk found its way to Erika's lips as she laughed at Halle. "Then I'll go ahead and inspect it."

Erika and her two accessories Rina and Kana went forward and inspected every corner of the room with a critical eye. They checked every inch of the entire room, checking under books on the bookshelves, and behind the TV... They even inspected the _plants_.

Erika frowned, visibly disappointed with the lack of things wrong with the room she found. "Hm, I suppose this will do..."

"This will do..." Rina and Kana droned their words simultaneously, frowning beside Erika.

Halle just quirked an eyebrow at the three girls quizzically. "So...did I pass, or...?"

"Pass? Of _course_ not!" Erika instantly snapped at her, getting all up in her face as she angrily spat her words at her. "How much time do you think you can spend on one room? Only and unskilled _amateur_ would say such a thing!"

Halle bit down on her tongue hard as she shut her eyes painfully tight, trying to keep her temper in check as she just stood there and took whatever Erika dished out to her. "Sorry."

Erika looked disgustingly pleased with herself when she saw the look on Halle's face, and after that, she yelled out every time she found a single speck of dust in the room, and she lectured Halle on it each time. Ugh... This chick was _merciless!_

Suddenly, something from inside Halle's uniform pocket buzzed, and Erika scowled at the sound. "Excuse me! You can't have a cell phone during bus..." She stepped closer and suddenly froze once she saw what buzzing object Halle had taken out of her breast pocket. "What are you doing with that pager!? Only employees in charge of the VIPs are allowed to have those!"

Ugh. _This_ thing was buzzing? That must mean Soryu was finally summoning her.

Mr. Kenzaki had told her to rush up to the penthouse as soon as this pager ringed, which meant...

Time to run!

Halle paid Erika no mind as she dashed right past her, slamming into her as she made a b-line for the door. "Sorry, but I have to go! I'll finish this room later!"

Erika stood there completely stunned as she watched Halle go. "...why do you..."

Halle couldn't stay and listen to the three uppity bitches any longer, because if she waited even a moment more, Soryu was going to yell at her. She ran out of the room at rapid speed, practically leaving a trail of fire behind her as she made a mad dash for the penthouse elevator.

* * *

 **Woo, I am on a roll! Here's chapter 4~! So, now that we've gotten this far, you can kinda see where I'm going with this plot now that Halle's become a maid like the original MC in the story is XD**

 **So, we learned more about Halle and her backstory. She's a former spy who went rogue, and for unknown reasons, she was dishonorably discharged from the service a year ago. She misses her life as a spy, and she briefly mentioned that she had been working on a mission of some sort over this past year. And now, she's been working as a freelance assassin.**

 **...except now she's quite literally owned by Soryu and can't do any of that anymore XDDDDDD**

 **Will we learn more about her and her past? And maybe how long she's known Baba, and how they met? Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Excuse me... Hello?" Halle heaved a heavy sigh, catching her breath as she stepped into the penthouse lounge.

"Oh, Eisuke, you're going to win again!"

"Oh, but Ota has some good cards, too!"

Halle just quirked an eyebrow at the high-pitch girlish squeals coming from the lounge, and as soon as she looked over by the couches, she saw the five men enjoying a card game with several other women flanking them.

Baba looked almost shocked as he wore an appalled expression on his face. "Come on, ladies... Can't you ever be on _my_ side for a change?" He was dressed down just a bit, only wearing his black button-up and white pants today.

Eisuke, who had also dressed more casually by ditching his suit jacket, currently sported his purple button-up and grey vest as he offstandishly glanced in Baba's direction. "Women love winners."

"And all you've done today is _lose_ , Baba." Ota was as casual as usual as he leaned over towards Baba, smirking devilishly.

Halle just stared ahead at the crowd with a look of utmost confusion on her face. Empty wine bottles lied underneath the sofa, and several glasses half-filled with the priceless liquid were strewn about the room haphazardly. What was this, some sort of drinking party...?

Seeing the sudden mess, a strange feeling came over Halle. Was she...forgetting something?

...

Nah, couldn't be.

Halle hid herself within the shadows of the room as she looked for the person who called her here, and sure enough, she spotted Soryu huddled away in the corner.

"Three 7s." Soryu layed down his cards, engrossed in the game. He had ditched his grey jacket at some point and was currently sporting his navy-blue button-up.

Mamoru threw his jacket to the side and loosened his tie, looking pretty stressed out as he appeared to not be having much good luck this round. "Tch. Not even one pair here..."

"Oh?" Ota looked surprised as he glanced at the slacker detective. "It's unusual for you to lose, Kishi. You're a good gambler."

Mamoru just frowned and popped his cigarette back into his mouth. "I know." He was about to say something else when one of the women sitting by him snatched his cigarette, to which he replied with, "hey, don't take my cigarette!"

The woman who stole Mamoru's cigarette grinned mischievously as a glint of lust flashed in her eyes. "It looked good in your mouth."

Soryu kept his serious facade up as he calmly glanced in Mamoru's direction. "What kind of detective gets surprised by a woman?"

"What?" Mamoru barked his response as he angrily whirled his head around at Soryu. "Why don't you try saying that again!?"

Before Soryu could say anything else, Ota quickly cut in with his amused laughter. "Now, now. No fighting!"

One of the women tried to slyly sidle up to Soryu, but he instantly shook her off and took a sip of his alcohol. The woman just pouted, quickly recovering from her wounded pride by flashing him a playful smile. "Oh, you're no fun, Soryu!"

Baba flashed the woman a seductive smile, smoothly cutting in to the conversation. "Sorry, but Soryu just got a new toy, so he's a little obsessed with _that_ lately."

Ota just scoffed under his breath as he stared at the hand of cards he currently possessed. "And he's just about to play with that toy, too."

Halle's eyes snapped wide open in shock as she realized that they must be talking about _her_. Soryu, obsessed? And her, a toy? No _way_.

Disturbed, Halle tried to creep back out of the room, but she tripped on a nearby wine bottle with a loud thump, which instantly drew the attention of the whole room.

Ota was the first to look over with the biggest grin on his face. "Oh, there's the new toy now!"

Soryu's gaze hardened as it fell on her, and his eyebrows knitted together bitterly. "What took you so long?"

"I..." Halle opened her mouth to answer, but Soryu never gave her the chance to finish.

"I'm out." He slapped his cards down on the table and stood straight up, ignoring Halle completely.

"Huh?" Mamoru's tired eyes fell on the mobster as he flashed him a look of confusion. "But we're not done yet!"

Baba just laughed bemusedly, smiling brightly with his eyes shut tight. "Sor has something way more fun to do than a card game."

Halle's facial expression darkened as she flashed him an intense glare. "Baba..."

"If it's _that_ fun, I'm interested." Ota cut in with a mischievous laugh, looking purposefully in Halle's direction. "Soryu, let me play!"

"Ota!" Halle whined a little and stomped her foot, balling her hands into tight fists.

Eisuke wore a devilish grin on his face as he leaned back in his spot on the couch, watching this entertaining scene go down. "Ota, let Soryu have his fun."

Soryu completely ignored the men as they teased him and approached Halle, seemingly used to it as he firmly barked orders to her. "Let's go."

"Go where?" Halle stubbornly stood still as she simply rose an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms firmly over her chest.

Soryu only glared at her in response. "My room. Hurry up."

Halle just sarcastically rolled her eyes as she followed in step behind him. "Yes, sir..."

"I can't hear you, and you're walking too slow."

"Fine, fine, I'm coming!"

* * *

"...what are these?" Halle stared at the objects in her hands with the most amazing dumbfounded expression, unable to believe that Soryu had just shoved these at her as soon as she walked into the room.

A slim-fitting red dress and a matching mask.

Soryu simply pointed to the dress in her hands that miraculously was her exact size. "You're going to wear that when you help out at tonight's auction."

"Auction..." The word numbly escaped Halle's lips as she quietly whispered it to herself, trying to process this. "Wait, like the one held yesterday? There's going to be _another_ one today?"

Soryu almost looked annoyed by her questions as he tilted his already hard expression to the side. "There's one every day during the International VIPs Convention; the I.V.C. The I.V.C. is actually a front to cover up the auctions, of course."

Halle just dropped her jaw at all of this. "A...front? Are you kidding me?"

This giant VIP convention that the entire hotel was excitedly gossiping about, _and_ freaking out over the fact that it was the time of year to host it again, was just a week-long front for the secret black market auctions...?

"I'll explain later." Soryu brushed off her dumbfounded expression and flipped through some sort of packet in his hands before handing it to Halle. "For now, I want you to memorize this."

Halle took the stack of papers and began flipping through them herself, and her eyebrows knitted together as she tried to process all of this. "Is this the list of things being sold at the auction?"

Soryu firmly nodded his head once with his arms stiffly crossed as usual. "You're going to be on stage showing off the products tonight."

Halle dropped her jaw, involuntarily slumping her posture. "I...what? Are you kidding me?" She met Soryu's firm glare as he gritted his teeth, and Halle just sulked when she realized he wasn't going to listen to any excuses. "Of course you're not..."

* * *

Some time later...

Halle sat on the couch in Soryu's suite, combing through the strange array of items up for the auction tonight, already on the list's third page.

"Entry number 21, a stuffed Bengal tiger..." Halle droned as she numbly read each entry aloud and under her breath, both shocked by the things being sold and incredibly bored at the same time. "Entry number 53, Uruguay's national secrets!?" She darted her eyes in confusion over to Soryu, who was not paying her any attention at all as he sat next to her reading a book.

Soryu had been there the entire time, just sitting there reading a book of some sort. Didn't he want to go back to the others and their poker game or something...?

Halle felt like she was being watched, and it was a little hard for her to concentrate. "I'm not going to run away, alright?"

Soryu looked up briefly with his unwavering, confident stare, not at all fazed by her sudden irrelevant exclamation. "Of course you won't."

"So you can leave me alone..." Halle drew out her words cautiously, just waiting for him to do something in response. "Weren't you in the middle of a card game?"

Soryu turned his head back to his book without saying anything at all. Wow. He totally just ignored her.

Halle sighed and crossed her arms, and she stubbornly sank back into the couch. As she did so, she heard Soryu mutter something.

"...I'm not going back in there."

Halle snapped her head back around, staring at the mobster with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

Soryu awkwardly averted her gaze, grabbing the back of his neck at he looked down. "It smells too much like perfume, and it makes me nauseous. Baba's always bringing strange women up in here..."

Halle's lip quivered as she struggled to hold back a laugh, and she clenched her jaw as she turned back to her auction list-memorizing. Wow, so maybe Soryu really _did_ hate women. Hah! That was just utterly _hilarious_ to Halle. Served him right! If she was going to be stuck as his prisoner for God only knew how long, she took pride in the fact that he was suffering too just from being _around_ her. But still...

What was Halle forgetting?

* * *

"And now we'll start the bidding!" The Mad Hatter rose one gloved hand as he got the crowd roaring with excitement. "$400,000 to number 68! One million to number 340!"

Bathed in the spotlight and wearing that sexy red dress, Halle carried up each and every item up for bid onto the stage at the auctioneer's request, still feeling like she was forgetting something important some odd hours later. Come on, this was insane! Not only did she have to help out with these immoral auctions, but she had to have this deja vu eating away at the back of her mind too? What was she forgetting!?

"The next item up for bid is an artifact stolen five years ago from the Metropolitan Museum of Art..."

As the Mad Hatter's voice droned over the crowd, Halle stared absentmindedly as each rare item got sold off one by one. These things belonged in museums, not in the hands of these...scumbags. Scumbags who would normally be on Halle's hit list because of all the shady things they did like this. And still, Halle couldn't believe that she was sold off just yesterday to one of the sponsors for this unruly auction.

Halle glanced over her shoulder and noticed that Soryu was still watching her from a gap in the curtain on the side of the stage, and she sighed a little under her breath. Really, he _still_ didn't trust her not to screw up or run away? Well, then again, she didn't trust him either, so fair enough...

As the auction came to a close and the last item was sold, Halle quickly and quietly ran off of the stage and joined Soryu in the back.

"So now you're an accomplice." Soryu crossed his arms firmly, expressing no other emotion than severity.

Halle just sighed a little under her breath, worn out from the night's events. "That was your insurance policy, wasn't it? To keep me from turning you into the police?"

"Like anyone would believe the crazed words of an assassin." Soryu's expression stiffened as a frown found its way to his lips. "And even if you did go to the cops, it'd be easy to get rid of you. It's just a pain."

Halle just smirked evilly in response, taking that as a challenge. "Oh, darling, I'd love to see you _try."_

Soryu brushed off her snarky attitude with a wary glance before picking up a bundle of bills from the piles of cash in front of him, and he flipped through it as if to inspect it. "You still need to earn back the $20 mil I paid for you, so if you play nice, it won't have to come to that."

Halle just rolled her eyes at his obvious attempt to keep up a dark and dangerous demeanor, and she leaned up against the wall next to the stage's curtain. "You said the I.V.C. is a front for the auctions earlier. What did you mean by that?"

Soryu paused for a minute before answering her question, minding his own business. "The people participating in these auctions are some of the richest, most important people in the world, invited specially by us. So, don't you think it would seem a little strange if all of those people just came together for no reason?"

"So _that's_ why you came up with the idea of the I.V.C..." Halle let her thought slip from her lips, crossing her arms a little.

"Right." Soryu reiterated. "The I.V.C. is our front."

Halle bobbed her head to the side. "And your _real_ purpose for it is the auction."

Soryu stuffed the proceeds from the auction into several black duffel bags that were carried off by a few of his subordinates as he kept his eyes on what he was doing. "It started out as a way for Baba to get rid of things he stole, and Eisuke agreed to the plan."

"Looks like you all have different reasons for participating in these auctions..." Halle mumbled under her breath, but it was purposefully made loud enough for Soryu to hear. "...so what's yours?"

Soryu instantly just deadpanned, "because of the enormous profits I can make without having any of it taxed. That's what I'm after."

"What you're _after_...?" Halle absentmindedly repeated what he had said. "Does everyone in the mafia do this?"

Soryu seemed a little fed up with her incessant questions as he abruptly dropped one of the duffel bags of money down on the table with a loud thud. "It takes money to run a large-scale organization like the mafia. Taking a hand in Tres Spades' operation was a great opportunity to do business in Japan."

Halle flattened her lips into a thin line as she got lost in her own thoughts. She had heard that when this hotel was built, there was a lot of pressure put on the people opposed to the casino idea, but she had no idea those rumors were true. It looked like the source of that pressure was Soryu. She figured that he went to great lengths to silence the anti-casino groups.

Soryu looked up from what he was doing and glared at her. "You look like you've got something to say."

Halle just scoffed, wondering since when the hell did _this_ guy care about what she thought. "Okay, look, I know I'm no angel myself, but committing crimes like this is just wrong. I rid the world of people like you for a living, you know that, right?" She met his grey eyes in an intense gaze, practically holding her breath sharply as she spoke. "I just don't think something like that should be easily forgiven."

"What is a crime?" Soryu suddenly asked her, stopping what he was doing entirely as he gave her his undivided attention.

"Excuse me?" Halle drew her head back in shock, not expecting him to say _that_.

"A crime is a violation of a law, right?" Soryu crossed his arms tightly over his chest and turned to her. "So who decides those laws?"

Halle just awkwardly averted his gaze as she gave her answer, trying to figure out whether this was a trick question or not. "...people do."

"Powerful people. People with money and power create rules to protect their assets, and those are called laws." Soryu finished checking the bundle of cash and tossed it back into another duffel bag on the table. "The right and wrong you speak of is a value system created by powerful people. Don't push those values on to me."

Halle just scoffed, throwing her head back a little. "Look, buddy..."

"I wouldn't expect you to understand of all people, former government _spy."_ Soryu cut her off without another word, firmly glaring at her.

Halle just rolled her eyes and turned on her heel, motioning to exit the back of the stage. "Fine, whatever. I don't..."

Halle froze when she caught a glimpse of someone in the dispersing crowd through the crack in the curtain, and the blood practically drained from her face. Dark brown hair, piercing blue eyes, muscular build, impeccable and priceless Italian suit...

Soryu arched his eyebrows at her back, confused as to what had suddenly gotten into her. "What is it?"

In a state of disbelief, Halle slowly approached the curtain and peered through the crack as she watched the man's tall figure leave. And, as he turned to walk out the door, she saw his face.

"Simon Yakov..." Halle hushed his name in a cruel whisper as her eyebrows slowly knitted together in anger. "What is _he_ doing here...?"

Soryu impatiently strode over to her and peered out at whatever was left of the crowd, trying to spot what she was looking at. "What are you doing?"

"Soryu." Halle instantly spun around on her heel to face him, completely ignoring his question. "Anyone invited to these auctions is generally a powerful person dirty in whatever position they are in, right?"

Soryu simply just blinked at her question, confused by it. "Well, yes..."

Halle turned back around to see that the man she had recognized was now gone. "Then why did I just see my old boss in the audience?"

Before Soryu could form a response, he was silenced by the worrisome look on Halle's face. "What? What is it?"

Halle awkwardly just ran a hand through her hair as she winced, finally remembering what exactly it was that she had forgotten earlier. "I... Need a favor. You see, I sort of forgot something..."

Soryu warily drew his head back and away from her. "What is it?"

* * *

 **Sigh... That took me a lot longer than expected. Okay, sorry that took so long for me to update XD sorry, sorry! I've been busy finishing up my senior year, graduating, prepping for Animazement, and all that stuff, and I also had to work out all the kinks in Halle's backstory before I could proceed writing this chapter. However, now that I know where I'm going with this book, I can officially start working on it again! Thank you guys for being so patient!**

 **I bet you just LOVE the cliffhanger too, huh? Halle forgot something, and now she needs a favor from Soryu. Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out exactly what that favor is!**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	6. Chapter 6

"...You're kidding, right?" Soryu deadpanned, leveling his stiff glare with Halle.

"No." Halle just shook her head no as she continued to walk down the dimly lit hallway of her apartment complex, holding a paper bag of food from a local bakery in her hand. "Not at all."

Soryu stopped in front of a door when Halle did, briefly glancing at the room number 402D. "How do you manage to forget _this_ , of all possible things?"

"Hey now," Halle turned over her shoulder and held up a finger in defense. "You try getting bound, gagged, and drugged on a job, then sold to an asshole mobster at a secret underground black market auction who makes you abandon your gig as an assassin and forces you work as a hotel maid instead." She stared him down, quirking an eyebrow at the Hong Kong mobster who looked irritated by her insult. "Then _you_ tell me if you manage to remember the fact that you were in the middle of interrogating a covert government agent you had previously kidnapped that morning."

Soryu rolled his eyes as he watched Halle pull a knife from her leather jacket and abruptly kick in the door to her apartment, and he pulled his gun as the two of them charged in. The grey color scheme of the apartment was dimly lit by the few windows that were covered up by raggedy sheets, and the barren apartment with little furniture or personal touches at all was immediately outshined by the several swords and knives hung up all over the walls. Papers were scattered all over the floors, and this place looked more like a dingy prison cell rather than an apartment. There was no way this was a permanent place to live; it was clearly a temporary safe house.

However, the shady guy that was practically wrapped in a cocoon of duct tape that widened his eyes in horror at the sight of Halle was a more apparent concern of Soryu's, rather than her not-very-girly "apartment."

"Hello, darling!" Halle smirked sadistically as she calmly strode into the apartment, walking towards her hostage with the knife she was spinning in her fingers. "Miss me?"

"MF MFFF!" The guy tried to hop away from her despite his bound ankles, struggling to escape his prison of duct tape.

Halle gripped the man's abdomen and thrust him back into the chair that he had clearly been tied to previously, instantly pressing the sharp edge of the knife against his throat. "Sorry, but I'm not done with you yet." She looked over her shoulder at Soryu back behind her, who slowly lowered his gun. "Hey, pass me the duct tape on the counter, would you?"

Despite not looking too happy about taking orders from the woman, Soryu complied and tossed the duct tape her way as he shoved his gun back into his jacket.

After Halle re-duct-taped the man to the chair, she frowned a little as she abruptly ripped the piece of duct tape off of his mouth.

"OUCH!" The man yelped in pain, and he winced now that a red rectangular shape began to appear around his mouth. "Hey, kidnapping a federal agent is already a bad idea, but what are you, stupid? Are you _trying_ to let me die?"

"Sorry, I was detained." Halle tossed the knife aside and plopped the paper bag she was holding onto her kitchen counter. "I really didn't intend on leaving you here for twenty-four hours without food or water." She pulled out two halves of a giant sandwich and two bottles of water, handing them to the man as she cut his hands loose, but left his torso taped to the chair.

The man shot her a weird look as he hungrily dug into the food, not taking his eyes off of the assassin as he grew even more confused. "...oh-kay. Well, I don't know what exactly you think I'm capable of, but I can't just _give_ you secure government files of that cold case you were talking about. I don't have that kind of clearance..."

"That's fine." Halle cut him off, suddenly leaning forward and resting her hands on the arm rests of his chair as she inched her face uncomfortably close to his. "I don't want that information anymore."

The guy truly never looked more shocked. "Wait, what?"

Soryu shot Halle a weird look as his patience began to wear thin, trying to figure out what was going on as Halle continued to scare the wits out of the man. "Tell me everything you can about Simon Yakov."

The guy's eyebrows shot up into his hairline, and his short blonde hair fell in his face as his blue eyes grew wide with shock. "Simon Yakov, as in my _boss_ Simon Yakov!?"

"Yes." Halle backed up and stood up straight, crossing her arms over her chest. "Tell me, is he dirty?" She cocked her head to the side, narrowing her eyes at him. "Is Simon Yakov a double agent?"

The man was almost too stunned to reply. "I-I... Simon Yakov, of all people, a double agent!?" He sputtered nervously. "You've got to be _kidding_ me! That man is the biggest stickler for the law, and he's the best good cop out there in Japan! If anyone was a double agent, it definitely wouldn't be _him!"_

Halle frowned and pressed her finger to her lips, not liking that answer as she began to pace back and forth. "Yeah, I know... That's what I thought..."

The man eyed Halle strangely, but couldn't quite understand what she was thinking. "What?"

Halle abruptly spun on her heel and faced him, changing the subject before he could ask more questions. "What's your name, kid?"

The man, who appeared to be around the age of twenty-two, gulped nervously as he stammered, "M-Momo... Momo Tetsuki."

"Okay, Momo." Halle firmly met his gaze as she watched him continue to nervously eat the food she gave him, as well as down all of the water. "You're going to be my man on the inside now."

Momo spit out a gulp of the water he just drank. "What!?" He gaped at her in amazement. "Okay, I don't know _who_ you think you are, but there's no way I'm going to just betray my country for you! That's treason!"

Halle raged as a vein bulged from her forehead, and she rose her voice as she got up in Momo's face again. "Hate to break it to you, kid, but our country's government is already corrupt, and you're going to help me fix it before any more innocent people get hurt."

"What...?" Momo blinked back his shock as he met her terrifying eyes. "What do you..."

"Look." Halle rested her hands on the arm rests of his chair, leaning in to _really_ look into his eyes. "I used to work for the bureau, so trust me, I know. Everyone knows that there's been a mole within the bureau since the Iraq OP went wrong last year, and my money is on Simon."

Momo just slowly shook his head back and forth as he began to process what she was saying. "N-no... There's just no way. Simon Yakov...? I just can't believe _he'd_ be the mole in the bureau..."

Halle just sighed as she backed up and stood up straight again, crossing her arms as she thoughtfully stared off into space at one of the covered up windows. "Yeah, I know... In all the years I worked for the man, I _never_ would have suspected him..."

Something seemed to dawn on Momo as he warily locked eyes with Halle. "Wait a sec... _You_ used to work for Simon and the bureau?" He paused for a moment as he grew uncharacteristically serious. "...you're Jack Cavanaugh's girl, aren't you? The agent with the highest kill record and mission success rate at the bureau."

Halle seemed to jolt at the mention of that man's name, which didn't go unnoticed by Soryu at all. She slowly turned around with a grave look on her face as she locked her saddened eyes with Momo's. "...Yeah. I used to be."

Momo slumped his shoulders and slowly looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry for your loss, ma'am... Jack was a great agent."

Halle abruptly drove her fist into the wall with a powerful punch, releasing her pent-up anger as she seethed it through her teeth. "Yeah, I know he was. And it's all Simon's fault that my boyfriend is _dead_."

Soryu's eyes instinctively widened. It was at the mention of "boyfriend" that he began to put all the pieces together.

"So, what now?" Momo hesitantly followed Halle pacing around the room with his eyes. "You're just gonna go on this crazy path for revenge until you take down the mole because of that OP gone wrong?"

Halle turned around and glared at Momo wildly at his casual statement. "Is that all you can really call it!? An OP gone wrong!?" She reached out and gripped the arms of his chair, angrily digging her nails into it. "That bastard Simon is the one who blew both mine and Jack's cover a year ago, which got him tortured and brutally killed by the terrorists we were undercover investigating!" Her red eyes seemed to grow even more red as she vehemently seethed her anger through her teeth. "Simon turned on us! He betrayed us! I've been trying to find out who the mole is for the past year, and now that I know for sure that it's Simon, nothing can stop me from taking him down!" She stood up and locked eyes with Soryu, who instantly returned her glare. "Nothing, and no one at all."

"What about our deal?" Soryu crossed the room over to her, getting all up in her face as he glared down at her. "You belong to me now, remember?"

Halle turned her chin up so she could meet Soryu's angry stare with a fiery look of her own. "Yes, you won't let me forget. I'll still obey you and carry out any orders you give me, Soryu, but I can't just stop this now. I have to finish what I started."

Soryu shook his head no. "No, I refuse. I don't give you my permission to carry out this petty need for revenge of yours."

Halle clenched her teeth as she balled her hands into tight fists. "I'll do anything and everything you say, Soryu, but you can't stop me from taking down Simon. I _have_ to do this." She stared directly into his steely-grey eyes as she got her point firmly across to him. "He's a dirty cop, Soryu. If I don't stop him, more innocent people will get hurt. More innocent people like Jack..." Her eyes awkwardly flickered to the floor as Halle lost some of her gusto, and Soryu just let out a heavy sigh.

"Fine." Soryu crossed his arms tightly over his chest. "But whatever I say goes, and my orders take precedent over yours. I don't care if you're in the middle of doing something when I page you; you drop whatever you're doing and come running."

Halle nodded her head determinedly. "Deal."

"Ahem." Momo awkwardly cleared his throat as if to remind the weird couple that he was still there, feeling a little third-wheelish as he remained duct-taped to the chair. "Umm, sorry to interrupt, but...what about me?"

Now noticing just how closely she was standing to Soryu, Halle awkwardly removed herself from his personal space bubble and dug a small object out of her jacket pocket before plopping it in Momo's hand. "Here. This is a burner. You'll use it to contact me with any information you dig up."

Momo eyed the old flip phone in his hands strangely. "What do you expect me to report?"

Halle crossed her arms as a confident smirk came over her face. "Oh, are you finally starting to come around to my side?"

Momo awkwardly cleared his throat as he instantly averted eye contact with Halle. "W-well... I mean, if you're right about Simon being dirty, then someone needs to stop him before he rises to too much power and _really_ does some damage..."

Halle smirked mischievously as she reached forward and sliced through Momo's duct tape with one of her knives in a single, clean cut. "Welcome to the team, Agent Tetsuki. I'm your new boss: Halle Mitchell. First thing's first: you're going back to work and are going to pretend nothing is amiss as you spy on Simon and give me daily reports on his whereabouts and actions."

"Okay, I can do that..." Momo stood up from the chair and awkwardly met the eyes of the smirking assassin and dangerous mobster that were standing side-by-side in front of him, nervously gulping as he looked between the strange duo. "So... Now what?"

Halle crossed the room and grabbed a duffel bag of some of her weapons and clothes, throwing it over her shoulder. "Now? We find out a way to take down one of the Japanese government's most powerful law-enforcers without him catching on."

* * *

 **DUHN DUHN DUHN. And the plot thickens. We learn a bit more about what happened to Halle in her past, but not ALL of what is to come has been revealed yet...**

 **XD so, what do you guys think of Momo? I bet you weren't expecting THAT to be what Halle forgot about. He's going to be an important role in the book, so look forward to seeing more of him! I think he and Ryosuke will get along swimmingly once he's introduced XD...**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Momo**_ _: Back at work. No one suspects a thing._

 _ **Halle**_ _: Good boy. Keep an eye on Simon for me. If that man so much as even breathes, I better be the first person to know._

 _ **Momo**_ _: Alright, alright! щ(ಥ_ _Дಥ_ _)/ geez, lady, I got it..._

 _ **Halle**_ _: Excuse me? (ง_ _'̀-'́)ง_

 _ **Momo**_ _: I mean...yes, ma'am-boss!_

 _ **Halle**_ _: Good boy._

Halle closed her texting conversation with Momo and locked her phone as she returned to the Tres Spades' penthouse lounge, just getting back from her trip to her apartment with Soryu. She stretched her arms upwards and let out a deep sigh as she walked into the living room containing the five men. "Thank god it's the last night of the I.V.C... Now I won't have to help out with the auction anymore."

Baba looked up from where he sat on the couch, and he jumped up to come and meet Halle as she walked in. "You sure look tired. Was Soryu too rough on you last night?"

Ota screwed up his face in disgust as he joined Baba's side. "It's first thing in the morning, Baba. Stop with the innuendo; it makes you look like an old man."

"Really?" Baba almost looked a little surprised by Ota's comment. "I don't think I'm as much of an old man as somebody else we know." He directed his gaze to Mamoru, who was reading the newspaper with a cigarette in his mouth.

"...huh?" Mamoru briefly looked up from his paper, not having heard any of that.

"Good grief..." Halle reached up to cover her face with her hands, then slowly dragged them down her face. "Nothing happened, Baba."

"I'm going to be out on business all day." Soryu completely ignored their conversation as he approached Eisuke, nodding to him directly. "Call me if you need anything."

Eisuke simply rose an eyebrow at Soryu's statement. "Oh, about 'you-know-what'?"

"Yep." Soryu briefly nodded his head, not clarifying further.

Halle tried to follow their conversation, but it was clear that she failed to based on the confused look on her face. "You know what...what?"

"Hey, that sounds pretty fishy." Baba jokingly butted in, and he leaned up against Halle as he smirked. "Is it a date?"

"Hah! A date?" Halle couldn't help but let out a laugh at that, scoffing as she crossed her arms over her chest. "As _if_. Soryu is the last man on earth I could ever imagine on a date...right?" She sounded a little nervous as she looked to Soryu for confirmation, who only stayed quiet and said nothing to defend himself.

Baba looked shocked as he bumped Halle's arm with his elbow. "Umm, Halle... Sor's not denying it."

Halle's jaw practically snapped off and clattered to the floor from her immediate surprise. "...what."

Ota's brow shot up into his hairline at the sound of that. "You bought Halle for $20 mil and you're already done with her?" He briefly looked at Soryu in disbelief before his expression quickly melted into a look that of smugness. "Mind if I have her, then?"

Halle cautiously stepped back from Ota, keeping her eyes straight ahead as she proceeded to flat-out reject him. "...I'd prefer to stay with Soryu, if that's possible."

"Oh, am I not good enough for you?" Ota looked at her dubiously with a teasing smirk on his face.

Halle's expression flattened into a glare as she met Ota's eyes. "No, it's just that..."

"Ooooooh, is Halle getting attached to Soryu already!?" Baba butted in, cutting her off mid-sentence as he swung an arm around Halle and got uncomfortably close to her face.

Halle just firmly glared at him and shoved his arm off as she bitterly thought to herself, _"No, it's just that he's the only one who knows about Momo and my secret plan to take down Simon Yakov..."_

Soryu, who had been quietly listening to the conversation the whole time, suddenly just scowled directly at Ota. "Hey. Nobody said you could butt in."

Ota dropped his jaw in surprise at the mobster's terrifyingly cold glare. "Waah! Chill out, it was just a joke!"

Baba instantly swooped in to back up his orange-haired friend. "Yeah! You know what they say, haste makes waste! You could learn a lesson or two from Mamo in that regard."

Mamoru just silently glared at Baba from across the room before going back to his cigarette.

Without paying the two idiots any attention, Soryu suddenly walked over to Halle and studied her face, and the weirded-out assassin slowly leaned backwards to keep a reasonable amount of space between their faces. "Don't be getting any ideas just because I'll be gone."

Halle simply rose an eyebrow at him as she stubbornly refused to give in. "Don't worry. I won't do anything unnecessary."

And after that last firm warning, Soryu left. Now, it was time for Halle to get to work. Oh no, not get to work on saving Japan from yet _another_ threat...she had to go get dressed into her maid's uniform and go get to cleaning the hotel.

Yay.

* * *

"We look forward to your next visit!"

Now that the I.V.C. was over, all of the staff members, plus a certain assassin in disguise, stood out front of the hotel in a line to say goodbye to the departing guests.

"Goodbye!" The line of cute, sweet young ladies dressed in their maid uniforms waved farewell to the departing cars, but one girl in particular motioned to slyly sneak away.

"Hm?" Halle was just about to turn and go back inside when she caught sight of a lovely woman wearing a cheongsam, who was walking towards the hotel as the guests departed.

The woman was dressed in a red cheongsam with a faded charcoal-black floral design, and it was finished with gold trim at the edges of her dress. Her black hair was pulled up into a tight bun held together with a silver hair tie, and two pieces of hair, as well as her bangs, were left out to frame her face. Her shocking grey eyes were what caught Halle's attention, however.

"Is she an actress from China or something?" Halle stared at her with the weirdest look ever on her face, both in awe over the woman's stunning appearance as well as being weirded-out by it. "She's _gorgeous_..."

"Do you want to go out to eat tonight?" The woman bounded over to a man who was waiting to meet her with a stellar smile on her face.

"Sure." The man shrugged his shoulders, completely disinterested in the conversation, although happy to see her.

Halle dropped her jaw as her eyes landed on the man the woman approached, who was none other than Soryu Oh. She thought he _hated_ women... So what was with that huge smile on his face!?

Ota suddenly popped up from behind Halle, getting right up next to her face. "Hey, is that her?"

"I'm totally jealous... He gets to walk around with such a beautiful woman...!" Baba did the same thing and suddenly appeared on Halle's other side, completely distraught as he wailed his complaints. "And she's wearing a cheongsam, too...!"

Halle nearly jumped from surprise, and she instantly glared at the two idiots hovering over her shoulders. "Ota, Baba! What are you doing here!?" She sighed and redirected her attention to Soryu and the mystery woman, not bothering to wait for an answer. "Do you know that woman?"

"I've never seen her." Ota shrugged his shoulders.

Baba just frowned, not really surprised by any of this. "Sor's a pretty secretive guy."

Halle was about to say something when she suddenly felt a piercing gaze on her back, and she slowly turned around to meet the eyes of...Erika.

Hooray.

"Why are you being so friendly with the VIP guests, Halle?" Erika turned her chin up at the sight of Halle, resting her boney fingers on her frail hips.

"Halle?" Rina and Kana butted in, flanking Erika's side as usual.

Ugh, they were glaring at her with really scary looks on their faces, and she couldn't tell them off or punch them in the face like she normally would because Halle was still trying to 'blend in.'

Before Halle could say anything, Ota swooped in and stood in front of her. "Sorry, we approached her."

"Yeah, sorry to have distracted her from work. It's solely our fault." Baba took one large stride and casually took up Erika's hand in his, looking into her eyes lovingly. "If you could give us just a moment to finish our conversation, I will gladly return Halle to you."

"O-oh...! How gentlemanly!" Erika laughed a little enchantedly until she looked at Halle, and the spell was broken as the annoyed look came back to her face. "Of course. If you would excuse us..."

Halle watched the three girls sulk away before turning on her heel and smirking at Baba, crossing her arms over her chest as she did so. "Easy there, lover boy." She reached out to lightly punch Baba's shoulder. "Make Erika your next hostile ex girlfriend and I might be hired to kill you again."

The blood drained from Baba's face as he looked extraordinarily guilty all of a sudden. "Urk..."

Ota laughed a little as he looked back and forth between the thief and the assassin. "Wait, is that seriously how you guys met?"

"Of course." Halle winked at Ota before shooting Baba a disgusted look. "How else would I have met this idiot?"

Baba just dropped his jaw in offense. "Hey...!"

* * *

Oh, _now_ what could he possibly want...?

Soryu had called Halle up to the penthouse lounge, again, and the grumpy assassin trudged in to the glitzy room only to see...Baba flirting with some woman again.

Typical.

"Hey, gorgeous." Baba seductively winked at the Chinese woman from before as he knelt down on one knee, and he took her hand in his and placed a kiss on the back of it. "You're as beautiful as a rose shining with evening dew."

The gorgeous Chinese mystery woman chuckled adorably and covered her mouth with her free hand. "Heheh... You're funny!" She turned and looked back behind her at Soryu with a silly smile on her face. "You have many strange friends, Soryu."

Soryu screwed up his face in disgust as he tried to think of a way to explain Mitsunari Baba to the mystery woman. "Baba's... _special_."

"And who is this?" The mystery woman motioned to Halle, who promptly froze at being put on the spot so suddenly.

Halle opened her mouth to speak and held up a finger in her defense. "Oh, uh..."

"She's basically an employee." Soryu harshly cut her off, not even letting her finish introducing herself to the mystery woman.

Halle just blinked repeatedly before bitterly frowning and crossing her arms over her chest. "Ouch."

The mystery woman completely ignored Soryu's severity and walked over to Halle, reaching out and energetically shaking her hand. "Oh, nice to meet you! I'm Mei Ling."

Halle blinked back her shock at the mystery woman's, Mei Ling's, strong grip as she introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Halle Mitchell. It's nice to meet you too."

"Mei Ling is the daughter of the boss of the Bell Crickets, a good friend of the Ice Dragons." Soryu cut in, jamming his hands in his pockets. "She came here to take care of some very urgent business."

"Urgent business?" Halle's interest was piqued, but the two blundering idiots behind her cut into the conversation before she could learn more.

"Oh, I thought she was your girlfriend..." Ota sighed in disappointment, frowning because he had guessed wrong.

Baba just took this opportunity to smirk widely and lean in very close to Mei Ling. "In any case, a beautiful woman like you is _always_ welcome here."

Halle almost wanted to slap her forehead too for jumping to conclusions. Mei Ling's _not_ Soryu's girlfriend... She's just the daughter of another mafia boss.

"Your English is very good." Halle ignored Ota and Baba's side chatter as she stepped up to Mei Ling and casually struck up a conversation with her.

"Daddy made sure I started learning at a young age." Mei Ling grinned brightly, and Halle guessed she was probably no older than twenty-four.

Soryu had enough of the small talk, and he snapped his fingers to catch Halle's attention as he quickly cut to the chase. "Woman, I called you here to take care of Mei Ling."

Halle simply just rose an eyebrow at the impatient mobster. "Take care of her?"

Ota just snorted a little, laughing under his breath. "Soryu doesn't know the first thing to do with a girl, so I bet he's going to make Halle do it."

Baba took this opportunity to swoop in and casually swing an arm over Mei Ling's shoulders, and he eliminated all space between them as he looked deeply into her eyes. "Let me take care of her. I'll make sure your time in Japan is something you'll _never_ forget..."

Halle, the trained cock block, instantly stepped in-between Baba and the giggling Mei Ling, and she forcibly pushed him away from her. "Ah ah ah, I don't think so."

"Aww, but Halle..." Baba pouted, instantly sulking at her disapproval.

"No buts." Halle shook her finger back and forth at him, glaring harshly in the thief's direction.

Soryu ignored both Baba and Ota as he just started talking to Mei Ling. "How about her, Mei Ling?"

"She's fine." Mei Ling glanced at Halle once before nodding her head.

Soryu nodded his head and then turned to Halle, growing very serious once again. "She's a very important guest of mine. If anything happens to her, consider yourself _dead_."

Halle just sighed bitterly and rolled her eyes, practically dripping with sarcasm as she spoke. "Geez, you really need some new material. That's the...what, _seventh_ time you've threatened to kill me now?" The horrifyingly tense glare Soryu was giving her cut Halle off, and she tried not to laugh under her breath as she backed down. "Alright, alright! I got it... Quit glaring at me so hard. Your eyes are going to get stuck like that."

Mei Ling just looked back and forth between Halle and Soryu, giggling a little as she suddenly broke the awkward tension between the two by enveloping Halle in a very friendly hug. "Thanks for attending to me!"

Halle chuckled nervously as she half returned the hug. "Aha...hah... Yeah, no problem."

Could she _really_ take care of a mob boss' daughter...!? No pressure or anything...

* * *

 **Aaaaaand this chapter is done. Phew. Sorry it took a while for me to get this out to you guys; post high-school life is NOT filled with as much free time as I had hoped. I'm currently spending my time working, college-hunting, running my Etsy shop, and prepping for Ichibancon in December by making two whole new costumes and fixing up a third one. Oh, and on top of all that, I'm simultaneously writing 5-6 books XD kill me.**

 **Well, read, review, and enjoy, guys!**


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